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Cooper v. Goldfarb, 154 F.3d 1321, 47 U.S.P.Q.2d 1896

Facts

This case involves a patent interference proceeding to determine the priority of invention for materials used in blood vessel grafting. The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences awarded priority to Dr. David Goldfarb, the junior party, over Peter B. Cooper, the senior party. Cooper appealed the decision, arguing that he had established an earlier reduction to practice. The Board found that while Cooper had conceived the invention, he failed to demonstrate a successful reduction to practice by the required date, whereas Goldfarb successfully reduced the invention to practice by July 1973.

Issue

Did the senior party, Cooper, establish a reduction to practice of the invention by a specified date, and did the junior party, Goldfarb, establish priority in the date of reduction to practice?

Did the senior party, Cooper, establish a reduction to practice of the invention by a specified date, and did the junior party, Goldfarb, establish priority in the date of reduction to practice?

Rule

Priority of invention is awarded to the first party to reduce an invention to practice unless the other party can prove they were the first to conceive and exercised reasonable diligence in reducing the invention to practice. An actual reduction to practice requires proof that the inventor constructed an embodiment or performed a process meeting all limitations of the interference count and determined that the invention would work for its intended purpose.

Analysis

The court analyzed the evidence presented by both parties regarding their claims of reduction to practice. It found that Cooper's evidence was insufficient to establish that his experiments met the requirements of the interference count, particularly regarding the length of fibrils in the graft material. In contrast, Goldfarb's experiments were corroborated by independent evidence, demonstrating that he successfully reduced the invention to practice by the required date.

Conclusion

The court affirmed the Board's decision awarding priority of invention to Goldfarb and reversed the finding regarding Cooper's claim of inurement, remanding the case for further consideration.

Remand ordered.

Who won?

The prevailing party in this case is Dr. David Goldfarb. The court found that Goldfarb successfully established both conception and reduction to practice of the invention by July 1973, while Cooper failed to provide sufficient evidence to support his claims. The Board's determination was based on the lack of corroborated evidence for Cooper's experiments and the successful results obtained by Goldfarb, which met the necessary criteria for patent interference.

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