Appeal No. 1996-0910
Application 08/118,368
application for
patent in the United States. As explained by the examiner,6
Boeing purchase order B 258096 discloses a sale
of a single-station hand-assisted lamination cell on
June 10, 1992 and July 10, 1992, both of which
occurred more than one year prior to Applicant’s
[sic] U.S. filing date. The HAL Cell is described
in a Boeing news bulletin dated August 11, 1992 as
using a laser to project the correct position of
plies on a mandrel, as is now claimed [examiner’s
answer, Paper No. 19, page 3].
DISCUSSION
A claimed invention is considered to be on sale within
the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) when two conditions are met
before the critical date (i.e., more than one year prior to
the filing date to which the claim is entitled). First, the
product must be the subject of a commercial offer for sale.
Second, the invention must be ready for patenting. The second
condition may be satisfied in at least two ways: by proof of
reduction to practice before the critical date or by proof
6The final rejection (Paper No. 11) also included a 35
U.S.C. § 103 rejection of claims 15 through 38 as being
unpatentable over Mittelstadt et al. (U.S. Patent No.
4,475,976) in view of Sarh et al. (U.S. Patent No. 4,512,837)
and Heine (U.S. Patent No. 4,284,462). Upon reconsideration,
the examiner has withdrawn this rejection (see the advisory
action dated June 21, 1995, Paper No. 15).
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