In re David Buszard, Matthew D. Phillips, Richard S. Rose and Stephen B. Falloon

Summary

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed a Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences decision holding patent application claims anticipated under 35 U.S.C. § 102. The court held that a reaction mixture producing flexible polyurethane foam could not reasonably be construed to include a rigid-foam mixture whose product was later mechanically crushed. The court reversed and remanded for further examination, with Judge Prost dissenting.

Holdings

1. Eling did not anticipate the claims because it disclosed a rigid polyurethane foam reaction mixture that produced a rigid foam, which was later mechanically crushed, rather than a flexible polyurethane foam reaction mixture.
2. The Board's construction equating a flexible polyurethane foam reaction mixture with any mixture that ultimately produces a flexible foam was not reasonable because it improperly equated a rigid-foam reaction mixture with a flexible-foam reaction mixture.
3. PTO tribunal decisions are reviewed under the Administrative Procedure Act, with factual findings reviewed for substantial evidence and legal conclusions reviewed for correctness in law.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Eling reference disclosed every limitation of the applicants' claims, including a flexible polyurethane foam reaction mixture, so as to anticipate the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102.
2. Whether the Board's broad construction of flexible polyurethane foam reaction mixture as any reaction mixture that ultimately produces a flexible polyurethane foam was reasonable during patent examination.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded