On August 10, 2026, the Federal Circuit in Dental Monitoring SAS v. Align Technology, Inc. held that a patent or published application can claim an earlier provisional's filing date as prior art under the America Invents Act only when the provisional provides § 112(a) written-description support for at least one claim of the reference. Applying the Dynamic Drinkware framework to AIA § 102(d), the court vacated the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's obviousness finding and remanded.

Read more: Sterne Kessler