1. This case presents an important statutory-interpretation question of first impression: whether, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act ("AIA"), the sale of an end product made by a secret process invalidates a subsequently filed patent on the process by placing the process itself "on sale." The AIA entitles an inventor to a patent if, among other things, the claimed invention is novel. 35 U.S.C. § 102.

Under Section 102 of the AIA, Congress defined what qualifies as "prior art" for purposes of determining a claimed invention's "novelty

Whether the Federal Circuit's interpretation of trade law improperly limits corporate appellate rights in administrative trade proceedings