STEITZ V. BENTLEY - Page 6




          Interference No. 103,669                                                    



          insufficient to prove conception--some form of corroboration                
          must be shown.  See Price, 988 F.2d at 1194, 26 USPQ2d at                   
          1036.  While the "rule of reason" originally developed with                 
          respect to reduction to practice has been extended to the                   
          corroboration required for proof of conception, the rule does               
          not dispense with the requirement of some evidence of                       
          independent corroboration.  See Coleman, 754 F.2d at 360, 224               
          USPQ at 862.  As the CCPA stated in Reese v. Hurst, 661 F.2d                
          1222, 1225, 211 USPQ 936, 940 (CCPA 1981):  "adoption of the                
          'rule of reason' has not altered the requirement that evidence              
          of corroboration must not depend solely on the inventor                     
          himself.”  There must be evidence independent from the                      
          inventor corroborating the conception.  Additionally,                       




          we acknowledge that there is no single formula that must be                 
          followed in proving corroboration.  An evaluation of all                    
          pertinent evidence must be made so that a sound determination               
          of the credibility of the inventor's story may be reached.                  
          Price, 988 F.2d at 1195, 26 USPQ2d 1037.  Independent                       


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