In re Hall (JWB)

The Case

• Appeal from decision of PTO Board of Appeals, which sustained a final rejection of claims 1-25 of an application filed Jan 29, 1982, based on a “printed publication” bar under Section 102 (referenced a doctoral thesis)
• If printed more than one year prior to application date  statutory bar
• Issue of whether thesis is available as a such a printed publication

Timeline

• Sept 1977 Foldi submitted dissertation to Dept of Chemistry and Pharmacy at Freiburg University (Germany)
• Nov 2, 1977 Foldi awarded doctorate degree
• Dec 1977 copies of dissertation made available to faculty and students of Freiburg University and to general public
• Feb 27, 1979 effective filing date for Hall

Ruling

• Relying on the library’s affidavit, the board held that the unrebutted evidence of record was sufficient to conclude that the Foldi dissertation had an effective date as prior art more than one year prior to the filing date of the appellant's initial application