In re Forest (Fed. Cir., April 3, 2025) 2023-1178

This  is a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding an appeal by Donald K. Forest. The central issue is whether the Patent Office can grant a patent, specifically U.S. Patent Application No. 15/391,116, after its potential twenty-year term has already expired. The court ultimately dismisses Forest's appeal, reasoning that patent law, particularly 35 U.S.C. § 154, intends provisional rights to exist as a temporary precursor to, and in conjunction with, the standard exclusionary rights of a patent, which cannot exist if the patent term has lapsed. Therefore, an expired patent cannot confer either exclusionary or provisional rights.

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