Interference No. 104,403
When there is an unreasonable delay between the completion
of the invention to the filing of the patent application, there is a basis
for inferring suppression and concealment. Lutzker v. Plet, 843 F.2d
1364, 1367, 6 USPQ2d 1370, 1371 (Fed. Cir. 1988).
The senior party argues:
. . .Rosenthal waited over twelve years to file a patent
application even though he allegedly possessed an
essentially complete application in 1982. Had Rosenthal
not learned of a suspected competitor whom he could not
control, it is uncertain when Rosenthal would have ever
filed his application. . .
Although Rosenthal’s inactivity is sufficient to support an
adverse decision, the error of Rosenthal’s inaction is
compounded by his simultaneous aggressive
suppression of others. For a time period exceeding four
years preceding his application filing date, Rosenthal
aggressively sought to suppress any disclosure of his
alleged invention by those to whom he allegedly
disclosed it. (Senior Party Magee Principal Brief page
10).
We agree with the senior party that there is evidence in the
instant case that Rosenthal aggressively sought to suppress or
conceal the invention of the count. In this regard, we note that
between the reduction to practice on August 14, 1992 and the filing of
the patent application, the junior party required several people to sign
non-disclosure agreements (Rosenthal Record pages 10, 18, 26, 81,
140) .
There is also evidence that the junior party was spurred into
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