Supreme Court Denies On-Sale Bar Appeal from Merck, Bayer

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Merck and Bayer’s appeal of a Federal Circuit ruling that confidential sales trigger the on-sale standard for patent invalidation.

The high court’s denial lets stand the Federal Circuit decision, which overturned a district court ruling that found the company’s secret negotiations to commercialize Metafolin did not invalidate Merck’s patents.

Merck and Bayer filed a petition in October, maintaining that only public sales initiate the on-sale standard.