Compagnie de Saint-Gobain v. Commissioner of Patents

Summary

The court considered a civil action under 35 U.S.C. § 145 seeking authorization to issue a patent for a panfocal lens invention. It held that the claimed subject matter would have been obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103, particularly in light of the Jeffree French patent, while finding the specification and claims sufficient under § 112. The complaint was dismissed.

Holdings

1. The claimed subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of making optical lenses and was therefore unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
2. The specification disclosures of the Bach application were sufficient to comply with the requirements of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112.
3. The claims particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed the subject matter that applicant Bach regarded as his invention.

Questions Presented

1. Whether claims 1, 2, 5-10, 12, and 13 of the Bach patent application were obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
2. Whether the Bach application provided sufficient specification disclosure under the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112.
3. Whether the claims particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed the invention under 35 U.S.C. § 112.

Disposition

dismissed