Interference No. 104,745
(emphasis omitted). Conception must include every feature or limitation of the claimed
invention. Davis v. Reddy, 620 F.2d 885, 889, 205 USPQ 1065, 1069 (CCPA 1980).
"Conception must be proved by corroborating evidence which shows that the inventor
disclosed to others his 'complete thought expressed in such clear terms as to enable those
skilled in the art' to make the invention." Coleman, 754 F.2d at 359, 224 USPQ at 862
(quoting Fields v. Knowles, 37 C.C.P.A. 1211, 183 F.2d 593, 601, 86 USPQ 373, 379
(CCPA 1950)). However, "there is no final single formula that must be followed in
proving corroboration." Berry v. Webb, 56 C.C.P.A. 1272, 412 F.2d 261, 266,
162 USPQ 170, 174 (CCPA 1969). Rather, the sufficiency of corroborative evidence is
determined by the "rule of reason." Price [v. Symsek], 988 F.2d [1187,] at 1195,
26 USPQ2d [1031,] at 1037 [(Fed. Cir. 1993)]; Berry, 412 F.2d at 266, 162 USPQ at 173.
Dr. Michnowicz, then the manager of Intellectual Property and New Technologies at
Hewlett-Packard (HP), the predecessor of assignee Agilent,20 testified that by no later than the
end of November 1997, he was approached by inventor Steven Fischer regarding the possibility
of including research related to generating ions using a laser and matrix at atmospheric pressure
in the Mass Spectrometry research and development group, which was within Michnowicz's area
of responsibility. Michnowicz Decl. (BX 2092) ¶¶ 4-5. In support of this proposed program of
research, Dr. Michnowicz authorized Jian Bai, an expert in MALDI-TOF, to work with Fischer
and approved the acquisition of the necessary parts to develop an AP-MALDI apparatus. Id.
at ¶ 5.
In November 1997, a first prototype of the AP-MALDI apparatus allegedly was
assembled in Lab 23 and tested with a mass spectrometer without success. Bai Decl. (BX 2087)
¶¶ 29-37; Fischer Decl. (BX 2044) ¶¶ 27-35. Fischer explains:
34. Initially, we had attempted to acquire an ion trap as it would facilitate ion
collection for AP-MALDI. Because an ion trap was not available, we
acquired a single quadrapole liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry
20 Bai Decl. (BX 2087) ¶ 2.
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