Interference No. 103,036
current flow, or varying the thickness of the nonconductive
layer. Mr. Hein's testimony makes clear that the battery tester
of Burroughs et al.'s Figure 10 would operate in a crude manner,
giving good/bad readings for a battery to be tested. This is
sufficient to show that the device of Figure 10 is operative,
since it is settled that a commercial performance is not
necessary in order to have an operative disclosure. Field v.
Knowles, 86 USPQ 378-379.
We have also reviewed the decisions of Ex parte Parks,
39 USPQ at 1234, and Schriber-Schroth Co. v. Cleveland Trust Co.,
305 U.S. at 47, 39 USPQ at 242, which are relied upon by the
party Cataldi et al. These decisions are not apposite to the
situation here.
In Parks, the invention was to a method in which the
prior art normally used a catalyst and the lack of mention of a
catalyst in the Parks specification conveyed to persons of
ordinary skill in the art the limitation of "in the absence of a
catalyst." Likewise, in the Burroughs et al. patent, the
particular structure of the nonconductive layer provides adequate
support to convey to one of ordinary skill in the art possession
of the concept of "sufficient means under one of its [the
conductive layer's] surfaces to permit the heat generated" by the
conductive layer to change the color of the temperature sensitive
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