Interference No. 104,180
met to discuss the progress made by the parties during Phase 3 of the project. Alzeta disclosed
the E burner to American at the May 1, 1993 meeting or shortly before the meeting. It was
disclosed to American that the burner had a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of
the skirt of the water heater, that it had perforations over its entire face except for a narrow rim
portion and that a venturi tube was to extend through the skirt for the injection of fuel gas and
air. American was unaware of the reasons or theory behind the use of a ceramic burner in
combination with a lining of insulation to reduce NOx. In the meeting, American disclosed to
Alzeta a water heater design in which a metal screen burner was used in a 50-gallon water heater.
The bottom of the American water heater was used as a plenum. However, American was
having problems with the metal screen burner overheating the water heater skirt wall, and
expressed a desire to keep the edge temperature of the burner below 350°F so that inexpensive
insulation could be used around the outside of the skirt portion of the water heater.
The Position of Bartz
Bartz argues that the testimony and corroborating documents establish that it conceived
the invention of the count and that the senior party derived the critical elements from disclosures
made by Alzeta at the meeting of May 1, 1993. It is urged that if the senior party contributed any
elements, those elements were obvious in view of the elements communicated to the senior party
by Bartz, and do not entitle the senior party to claim inventorship. The junior party submits that
it is the inventor of a radiant gas burner in the form of a circular perforated ceramic flat plate, the
ceramic flat plate having a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of a water heater
skirt and having perforations over its entire face except for a narrow rim portion.
Bartz contends that the count can be divided into seven elements, as shown in BX-J2.
The count, as divided by Bartz in the above exhibit, reads as follows:
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