Appeal No. 2006-0132
Application No. 09/946,627
appellants ever precluded the interested public (e.g., defense
industries) from obtaining the information in the Wanthal
document.
In Kroenert, an “Index of Specification and Standards”
numerically or alphabetically listing a military specification
was accessible to contractors from a procurement agency.
Kroenert, 144 USPQ at 135. Nevertheless, the Board of Patent
Appeals found that the military specification itself was not
accessible to the interested public. Id. Thus, it held that the
military specification was not a “printed publication” within the
meaning of section 102(b). Id. In contrast, the present case
involves at least twenty copies of the actual document (rather
than an index) sold to the interested public without any
obligation of confidentiality.
In Aluminum Co. of America, 14 USPQ2d 1171, progress letters
were distributed to thirty-three entities under the terms of a
contract with a government agency. The letters contained the
following notice (id.):
This Document is Subject to Special Export
Controls and Each Transmittal to Foreign Governments
or Foreign Nationals May Be Made Only With Prior
Approval of the Naval Air System Command.
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