Appeal No. 1997-0616
Application No. 08/318,205
On the other hand, the appellant argues that the facts and
the law do not support the examiner's conclusions. (Appeal
brief, pages 4-7.) The appellant further contends that the
activities described in the appellant's statements did not
trigger an "on-sale" bar under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) because there
was no offer, prior to the critical date of September 11, 1991,
"to sell embodiments of the claimed invention." (Reply brief,
pages 5-6.) We agree.
In Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc., 525 U.S. 55 (1998),
the Supreme Court held that an "on-sale bar" under 35 U.S.C.
§ 102(b) is triggered if two conditions are satisfied:
(i) the invention must have been the subject of a
commercial offer for sale more than one year
before the patent application was filed; and
(ii) the invention must have been ready for patenting
more than one year before the filing of the
application.
The second condition may be satisfied by (a) proof of reduction
to practice prior to the critical date or (b) proof that prior
to the critical date the inventor had prepared drawings or other
descriptions of the invention sufficiently specific to enable a
person skilled in the art.
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