Definitive Holdings v. Powerteq (Fed. Cir., April 14, 2026) 2024-1761

This episode concerns an opinion in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirms a lower court's decision to invalidate several patent claims held by Definitive Holdings. The dispute centered on technology for reprogramming engine controllers, which the court found was already being sold by a third party, Hypertech, years before the patent's priority date. Definitive Holdings challenged the use of deposition testimony and computer source code as evidence, arguing they were inadmissible hearsay or lacked personal knowledge. The court rejected these arguments, clarifying that source code commands are instructions rather than hearsay and that a corporate representative can testify about company records. Ultimately, the court ruled that the on-sale bar applies even if a product’s internal technical details are not fully disclosed to the public at the time of purchase. Under this doctrine, the prior commercial availability of the Hypertech device rendered the asserted patent claims invalid.

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