Interference No. 104,315
Sauer Inc. v. Kanzaki Kokyukoki Mfg. Co., Ltd.
Therefore, Sauer's date of conception need only be prior to February 3, 1988, provided that there
is a showing of reasonable diligence in reducing the invention to practice. Kanzaki disputes
Sauer's assertion that Sauer had conceived of the invention of the count on September 8, 1987.
But we need not reach that question here, because even assuming that Sauer has a date of
conception prior to February 3, 1988, and even further assuming that Sauer has an actual
reduction to practice sometime in October of 1988, Sauer has failed to demonstrate reasonable
diligence toward reduction to practice from a time just prior to February 3, 1988, to October,
1988.
In the fourth entry appearing in a chart beginning on page 26 of its brief, Sauer
specifically accounts for its activities in the period from 11/26/87 to 02/28/88. Also within that
entry, Sauer admits that all the identified activities are directed to design concepts outside of the
scope of the count. Sauer further does not allege that such activities outside of the scope of the
count was somehow either required or necessary for constructing and/or testing an embodiment
which is within the scope of the count. This gap, more than three weeks of which are within
Sauer's critical period during which Sauer must have been reasonably diligent in reducing the
invention to practice, renders unpersuasive Sauer's assertion that it had been reasonably diligent
in the critical period for reducing the invention of the count to practice.
Sauer argues that during that initial gap, it was merely relying on agreements made with
Kanzaki with regard to what it would work on subsequent to their technical meeting held from
11/23/87 to 11/25/87. The argument is without merit. That the parties together decided to direct
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