On April 29, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an opinion for Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals L.P. v. U.S. Venture, Inc., U.S. Oil Co., Inc. (2022 WL 1275697).This case touched on a number of issues, including experimental-use doctrine, on-sale bar, infringement and damages awards. In this article, we will focus on the experimental-use doctrine and the on-sale bar.

As background, Sunoco’s patents were directed to a system and method for blending butane with gasoline at a point close to an end of the distribution process – in particular, the point immediately before being distributed to tanker trucks. Accordingly, producers could blend the maximum allowable butane into each batch of gasoline based on location and time of year. Both the location and time of year were subject to certain regulatory requirements.