Glob. Health Sols. LLC v. Selner

Authored by: Jeremy J. Gustrowsky

In a significant decision for patent law, the Federal Circuit in Global Health Solutions LLC v. Selner (148 F.4th 1363, decided August 26, 2025) clarified how derivation proceedings work under the America Invents Act (AIA). The case involved two parties—Global Health Solutions LLC (GHS) and Marc Selner—who both filed patent applications for a method of making a wound treatment ointment. Both applications described a process for preparing an emulsifier-free ointment by heating petrolatum and a biocide (PHMB) separately before mixing, but each claimed to be the true inventor.

GHS, the second to file, argued that Selner, the first filer, had derived the invention from GHS’s founder, Bradley Burnam, and sought to have Selner’s patent application invalidated. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) reviewed emails exchanged between the parties and found that Selner had independently conceived the invention before Burnam communicated it to him. Importantly, the Board determined that Selner’s email sent at 12:55 p.m. on February 14, 2014, demonstrated his independent conception, while Burnam’s similar communication came later that same day.

On appeal, GHS challenged the Board’s findings, arguing that Selner’s evidence was not sufficiently corroborated and that the Board had applied the wrong legal standard. The Federal Circuit disagreed, holding that the Board’s reliance on contemporaneous emails and their metadata was proper and that the Board did not improperly shift the burden of proof. The court also clarified that, under the AIA, the focus is on whether the first filer independently conceived the invention, not who was first to invent, and that actual reduction to practice is not always required for conception.

This decision is notable as the Federal Circuit’s first review of an AIA derivation proceeding and underscores the importance of documenting invention processes with reliable, contemporaneous evidence. It also highlights that under the AIA’s first-to-file system, a patent will stand unless it is proven that the filer derived the invention from someone else.