Ex parte SCHROEDER - Page 13




          Appeal No. 1996-3918                                                        
          Application No. 08/232,351                                                  


          cert. denied 105 U.S. 220 (1984).  Once the long-felt need has              
          been established, it must further be shown that the invention               
          satisfied that need.  See In re Cavanagh, 436 F.2d 491, 496,                
          168 USPQ 466, 471 (CCPA 1971).  This can be demonstrated, for               
          example, by evidence establishing commercial success and that               
          the industry purchased the claimed invention because it                     
          satisfied the long-felt need.  See W. L. Gore & Associates,                 
          Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1555, 220 USPQ 303, 315               
          (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied 105 S. Ct. 172 (1984).  When                 
          viewed in this context, we are satisfied that the above-noted               
          statements in the appellant's declaration fall far short of                 
          establishing long-felt need.                                                
               The appellant's self-executed declaration also states                  
          that U.S. Patent No. 5,800,296 establishes evidence of                      
          copying.  However, the mere fact that another person (i.e.,                 
          Shaw) patented and/or used similar technology is not                        
          persuasive evidence that Shaw knew of the appellant's                       
          invention and copied it.  Shaw might well have independently                
          developed a backboard which falls within the scope of the                   
          claimed invention.  Moreover, it is well settled that "more                 


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