Appeal No. 2006-2083
Reexamination Control No. 90/006,352
The significance of the above-quoted text from the Supreme Court’s opinion in United
States v. Bankers’ Trust Co., 294 U.S. 240 (1935), with respect to the patentee’s arguments, is
lost in the indiscriminant and lengthy quotation. As noted by the examiner (Answer, page 9, line
17), the patentee does not specifically point out what or how something in the quoted text
supports the patentee’s arguments. Thus, the arguments derive no persuasion from the quoted
opinion unless the support is manifestly evident. It is not. We do not see anything in the above-
quoted text that reasonably supports a conclusion that there was concern that the nation’s stock
pile of gold was insufficient for redeeming outstanding gold certificates. Rather, the concern
was on the entirety of the nation’s gold reserve regardless of whether outstanding gold
certificates were 100% backed. A concern about maintaining the level of gold held by the
Treasury above a certain level for the general well being of the nation is not the same as and
cannot be equated to a concern over whether there were as much gold held in storage as there
were outstanding gold certificates. Having only just enough gold and silver to cover all
outstanding gold and silver certificates, and no more, still may have been a dire situation for the
U.S. Treasury. In any event, the examiner relied on a silver certificate, not a gold certificate.
The patentee further argues (Brief at 9):
The presidential proclamation of March 6, 1933 prohibited redemption of
both gold and silver certificates with metal. It stated: “no such banking
institution or branch shall pay out, export, earmark, or permit the withdrawal or
transfer in any manner or by any device whatsoever, of any gold or silver coin or
bullion or currency.” (Declaration of James J. Turk, Exhibit E). The limitations
on silver coin redemptions were lifted on March 10, 1933, but the limitations on
owning gold coin continued. (Declaration of James J. Turk, Exhibit F). The
reason for such actions was a run on banks by depositors seeking to redeem their
certificates for gold or silver and the banks did not have sufficient precious metal
reserves to meet those demands.
The patentee does not cite to anything to support the assertion appearing in the last sentence of
the above-quoted text, i.e., that the banks did not have sufficient precious metal reserves to meet
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