KEITH et al. V. COELHO - Page 21




                 Interference No. 103,270                                                                                                               



                 Keith et al. Conception                                                                                                                
                                   The junior party contends that the invention of                                                                      
                 count 2 was conceived at a brainstorming session on October 3,                                                                         
                 1988.  At the time, Keith was an engineer at SCIMED Life                                                                               
                 Systems, Inc. (former assignee of the involved Keith et al.                                                                            
                 application), reporting to Euteneuer, the section manager of                                                                           
                 the cardiology department (KR-2, 40).  Coinventor Adams was                                                                            
                 the director of research and development (KR-20), and Hektner                                                                          
                 was vice president of research and development (KR-54).                                                                                
                                   Euteneuer testified at KR-41, 42 that in September                                                                   
                 1988 he was working on a project to develop a catheter system                                                                          
                 for rapid exchange.  He sent out a notice (JPX-1) calling a                                                                            
                 "BRAINSTORMING SESSION FOR NON-CONVENTIONAL RAPID EXCHANGE                                                                             
                 CATHETER SYSTEMS" on October 3, 1988.  The meeting was                                                                                 
                 attended by, inter alia, himself, Keith and Adams.   At the                               8                                            
                 meeting, Euteneuer states that Keith presented a method and                                                                            



                          8Although Keith et al. refer to Adams as corroborating                                                                        
                 conception at this meeting (KOB-99, 106), Adams' testimony                                                                             
                 cannot serve as corroboration because he is a named                                                                                    
                 coinventor.  Manny v. Garlick, 135 F.2d 757, 768, 57 USPQ 377,                                                                         
                 388 (CCPA 1943); Lasker v. Kurowski, 90 F.2d  132, 134, 33                                                                             
                 USPQ 593, 594 (CCPA 1937).                                                                                                             
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