Interference No. 104,313 Sauer Inc. v. Kanzaki Kokyukoki Mfg. Co., Ltd. "industry norm" or as compared to anyone else. The term "diligence" pertains to the steady or dogged persistence with which a task is pursued, and not simply how quickly it is accomplished. from commencement to completion. "Diligence" is defined as follows in the Random House College Dictionary, Revised Edition (1982): "constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken." Note that all who are diligent do not necessarily complete the same task in the same amount of time. Some will complete the task quicker than others, depending on a myriad of relevant factors including the ingenuity and efficiency of the person and also the resources available to the person. Adopting Sauer's rationale, one would say that those who complete the task in less time than average are diligent and those who complete the task in more time than average are not diligent. Such conclusions are on their face irrational and incorrect. Under the statute, a diligent inventor is not penalized for not being smart, for not being efficient, or for not being very good at what he or she does. So long as the inventor who first conceived of the invention diligently works on reducing the invention to practice, with no inexcusable gap during the critical period, and provided that the invention is ultimately reduced to practice, he or she is entitled to prevail on priority over another who earlier reduced the invention to practice. An inventor may take one year to reduce an invention to practice and be regarded as diligent; another inventor may take 18 months to reduce the same invention to practice and be regarded as diligent; and still another inventor may take two years to reduce the same invention to practice and be regarded as diligent. Diligence is directed to continuous, steady, or constant effort, and not necessarily to any quick result. - 11 -Page: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007