Interference No. 101,981
not been made available at that time, it is likely that party
Qadri would have conducted further experimentation. Considering
that it took 16 days and the assistance of a discussion with a
participant at the APS meeting to discover the formula, it is
reasonable to conclude that a lack of conception of the formula
was tantamount to a lack of conception of the composition of the
count.
Conception is the "formation in the mind of the inventor, of
a definite and permanent idea of the complete and operative
invention as it is hereafter to be applied in practice."
Hybritech Inc. v. Monoclonal Antibodies, Inc., 802 F.2d 1367,
1376, 231 USPQ 81, 87 (Fed. Cir. 1986). The invention of the
count at issue is a chemical composition having, inter alia, the
formula A1B2Cu3Oy. We find no evidence that Qadri was in
possession of the formula of the composition of the count, i.e.,
the 1:2:3 stoichiometry, by March 2, 1987. Indeed, we find no
evidence that Qadri was in possession of the 1:2:3 stoichiometry
prior to March 18, 1987 (QR 60, paragraph 32, 194-195, Q7, sample
number 221). Accordingly, Qadri has not established conception
by March 2, 1987.
We hold that Qadri has failed to establish by a
preponderance of the evidence a conception of the invention of
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