On January 30, 2019, Chris Loh was quoted in Westlaw Journal of Intellectual Property about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to side with Teva Pharmaceuticals in Helsinn v. Teva, finding that a sale, even if done in a secret, can bar a patent application, which highlights the importance of filing patent applications early and taking certain precautions.
Mr. Loh said Justice Brett Kavanaugh foreshadowed the high court’s decision at oral argument. "Justice Kavanaugh observed that if Congress had intended for the AIA to alter pre-AIA precedent concerning the on-sale bar, Congress would have done so directly by changing the term 'on sale' in the AIA, rather than by inserting a catchall 'otherwise' clause into the statute," Loh said. "The Helsinn decision rests largely on that reasoning."