Foreign Patent Application Only a Basis for Priority If Application Was Filed by or on Behalf of U.S. Applicant at the Time the Foreign Application Was Filed

摘要

In Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc. v. Medtronic Vascular, Inc.,_F.3d_, 2007 WL 2255222 (Fed. Cir. 2007), the Federal Circuit was called upon to determine "whether 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) permits an applicant for a United States patent to benefit from the priority of a foreign application previously filled by an entity that was not acting on behalf of the U.S. applicant at the time of the filing." Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc., 2007 WL 2255222 at ~*2. Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc. and Medtronic Vascular, Inc. were both assignees of different U.S. patents covering the same invention.