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Celanese International Corporation, et al. v. International Trade Commission, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2022-1827 · judgment August 12, 2024


Certiorari denied · April 28, 2025
Pre-decision estimate: 5% cert probability

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a Federal Circuit decision below, and a business petitioner.

Question presented

Under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011 (“AIA”), “[a] person shall be entitled to a patent unless * * * the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.” 35 U.S.C. § 102(a). The AIA defines the “claimed invention” as “the subject matter defined by a claim in a patent or an application for a patent.” 35 U.S.C. § 100(j). For process claims, the subject matter defined by the claim is the process itself, not an end product made using the process. The question presented is: Whether the sale of an end product made by secret use of a later-patented process places “the claimed invention”—that is, the process itself—on sale and thus invalidates the patent on that process, even where the claimed process was not disclosed by the sale and cannot be discovered by studying the end product. (i)

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Deanne Elizabeth Maynard
Morrison & Foerster LLP

For respondent
Nicole A. Saharsky
Mayer Brown LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Linked docket
24A388

Proceedings

  1. Apr 28 2025
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Apr 09 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/25/2025.
  3. Apr 07 2025
    Reply of petitioners Celanese International Corporation, et al. filed.
  4. Mar 24 2025
    Brief of respondents Anhui Jinhe Industrial Co., Ltd., et al. in opposition filed.
  5. Mar 24 2025
    Brief of Federal Respondents in opposition filed.
  6. Jan 28 2025
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including March 24, 2025, for all respondents.
  7. Jan 27 2025
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from February 10, 2025 to March 24, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
  8. Jan 10 2025
    Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Manufacturers filed.
  9. Jan 06 2025
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 10, 2025, for all respondents.
  10. Jan 03 2025
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 10, 2025.
  11. Jan 03 2025
    Motion of Jinhe Industrial Co., Ltd., et al, to extend the time to file a response from January 10, 2025 to February 10, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
  12. Jan 02 2025
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 10, 2025 to February 10, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
  13. Dec 09 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 10, 2025)
  14. Oct 23 2024
    Application (24A388) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until December 10, 2024.
  15. Oct 18 2024
    Application (24A388) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from November 10, 2024 to December 10, 2024, submitted to The Chief Justice.