On June 28, 2007 the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) decided on Gilbert Hyatt v. Jon W. Dudas, Director, Patent and Trademark Office. This case stems from a disagreement between Mr. Hyatt and the examiner of his patent application(s).
The disagreement was over whether or not the USPTO properly shifted the burden with its prima facie case which included a notice of lack of written description. The notice told Mr. Hyatt that he did not write enough to convince the examiner that the parts of Mr. Hyatt's invention were meant to combine to make one whole embodiment of his invention. Mr. Hyatt did not believe this was detailed enough for him to appropriately respond.
Mr. Hyatt took this matter to the Board, then to the District Court of the District of Columbia. The District Court's decision favored Mr. Hyatt and was appealed by Mr. Dudas to the CAFC, although the decision was on remand.
The full opinion of the CAFC can be found at http://www.fedcir.gov/opinions/06-1171.pdf
Hyatt v. Dudas
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