Interference No. 103,270
and most of the apparatus to be used, e.g., guide catheters,
wire-
guided angioplasty balloons, etc., was already known. Even
the mechanism to inhibit movement of the guidewire was made up
of essentially known items, i.e., a balloon on the end of a
lumen.
Therefore, we consider that Keith et al. did at that time
define the invention such that only ordinary skill would be
necessary to reduce it to practice. Burroughs Wellcome Co.,
supra. The fact that issues were discussed at the meeting
about what balloon material would be desirable, etc. (KR-43,
44), and that some problems may have been subsequently
encountered later, as argued by Coelho at CB-68 at seq., does
not change our conclusion that the disclosure by Keith on
October 3, 1988 enabled others to reduce the invention to
practice "without extensive research or experimentation." Id.
Also, we note that "an inventor need not know that his
invention will work for conception to be complete." Id.
Keith et al. Diligence
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