Most people know that patents require absolute novelty, but how is that determined? It’s determined on the basis of “prior art,” that is, patents and other disclosures (journal articles, presentations, websites) that were made prior to the filing date of the patent. In some instances, these dates can be tricky and open to dispute.

Last week the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Lynk Labs v. Samsung, decided a prior art issue in one of the thornier aspects of determining dates when a reference can be considered prior art for anticipation and obviousness arguments.