Richard J. Clauss and Henry Brown v. Donald Gardner Foulke, Otto Kardos and Herman Koretzky

379 F.2d 586, 54 C.C.P.A. 1514
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedJune 22, 1967
DocketPatent Appeal 7683
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 379 F.2d 586 (Richard J. Clauss and Henry Brown v. Donald Gardner Foulke, Otto Kardos and Herman Koretzky) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richard J. Clauss and Henry Brown v. Donald Gardner Foulke, Otto Kardos and Herman Koretzky, 379 F.2d 586, 54 C.C.P.A. 1514 (ccpa 1967).

Opinion

WORLEY, Chief Judge.

Clauss and Brown 1 appeal from the decision of the Board of Patent Inter *587 ferences awarding priority of invention to the senior party, Foulke, Kardos and Koretzky, 2 of a process for producing bright nickel deposits from an electroplating bath, as reflected in the only count:

1. The process for producing bright nickel deposits which comprises electrodepositing nickel from an aqueous solution of at least one nickel salt characterized in that there is dissolved in the nickel plating bath at least about 1 millimole per liter of a compound of the formula
Rl-0-CH2-C E= C-CH2-O-R2 wherein Ri is a radical selected from the group consisting of
OH -H, -CH2-CH-CH2C1, -C2H4OH CHS
I
and -CH2-CHOH and R2 is a radical selected from the group consisting of
OH -CH2-CH-CH2CI, -C2H4OH and
CHS I -CH2-CHOH and sodium allyl sul-fonate in an amount of at least about 0.3 grams/liter.

The novelty in the electrodeposition process resides in the use of a combination of “at least about 0.3 grams/liter” of sodium ally! sulfonate (SAS) and “at least about 1 millimole per liter” of a particular derivative of 2-butyne-l,4-diol 3 as a brightening agent whereby a bright nickel deposit is produced, in contrast to the dull or matte surface appearance resulting from electrodeposition of nickel in the absence of a brightening agent.

Foulke took no testimony and is accordingly restricted to his filing date for conception and constructive reduction to practice. The principal issue before us is whether Clauss has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he reduced the invention to practice by actually carrying out the process of the count prior to Foulke’s filing date. Subsidiary questions related to that issue are whether the evidence establishes (1) that Clauss used, and knew he used, a butynediol-ethylene oxide adduct in the quantity required by the count as the active material to produce bright nickel, and (2) that the results of certain laboratory tests carried out on behalf of Clauss were satisfactory. The board found the testimony, documentary evidence, and physical exhibits introduced by Clauss, relating to activity occurring in 1955 and 1957, to be insufficient to prove actual reduction at those times, principally because it regarded the test results of Clauss to be unsatisfactory.

It appears from the record that Dr.' Brown, director of research at Udylite Corp. and coinventor with Clauss, had for some time been interested in the use of unsaturated compounds as brightening agents for nickel plating and, in 1955, had tested 2-butyne-l,4-diol for that purpose. On June 21, 1955, he wrote Dr. Duggins of the Commercial Development Department of General Aniline and Film Corp. (GAF), stating in part (Exhibit 25):

* * * * * *-
The 2-butyne-l,4-diol looks very good for us, but we would prefer it with 1 mole of ethylene oxide added to it, as we need the oxide group. Could you *588 do this for us on a 1 lb sample? We would gladly pay the costs as we believe that this would be just exactly what we need. i. e.

Shortly thereafter, in apparent response, Duggins sent Brown a sample of material in a bottle labelled simply

1,4 Butynediol + Ethylene Oxide Mole Ratio 1.79:1 High Pressure Run No. 314D

That bottle, still containing a portion of dark brown liquid, is' in evidence as Clauss Exhibit 1.

Lillie Tomaszewski, holder of a Master of Science degree in chemistry, testified that Clauss gave her the bottle identified as Exhibit 1 on July 1, 1955, and also gave her an outline to follow in employing the contents of the bottle in nickel plating baths in conjunction with various other brighteners, including sodium allyl sulfonate (SAS). 4 Her testimony is conceded to establish that from July 1-8, 1955 and again in August 1957 she plated a number of polished steel test strips in various nickel plating baths to which varying amounts of SAS and material from Exhibit 1 were added. The procedures she utilized and the results that were obtained were recorded in a laboratory notebook, pages of which are in evidence as Exhibits 47-52 and 54-57. Some thirteen individual tests of Tomaszewski, denoted by the parties in their briefs as panels 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 19, 21, 23, 27 and 28 produced in July 1955, and panels 60 and 62 produced in August 1957, are relied on by Clauss for reduction to practice. Five test panels produced on August 2, 1957, two of which are panels 60 and 62, are in evidence as Exhibits 58-62.

Clauss testified that he inspected the panels produced by Tomaszewski in July 1955 and wrote Brown a report, dated July 8, 1955, and titled “Use of Ethylene Oxide Ether of 1,4 Butyne-diol in Nickel Electroplating Solutions,” which reads in part:

A sample of the ethylene oxide ether of 1,4 butyne-diol was received from General Aniline and Film Corp. on June 28, 1955 and tested on that day. This sample (Run No. 314D) had a molar ratio of 1.79:1.
This material has been found to be effective in watts nickel plating solutions when used with No. 3 or No. 4 [“No. 4” is Udylite’s designation of SAS] or various combinations of those brighteners. When so used, it is possible to obtain fully bright ductile deposits with good leveling. The concentration of the ethylene oxide ether of the butyne-diol may vary from .1 to .30 g/1.
******

The original report is in evidence as Exhibit 30; Clauss’ handwritten and typed copies of that report are in evidence as Exhibits 65 and 66; and To-maszewski’s carbon copy is in evidence as Exhibit 53. Clauss stated that his report to Brown was in part based on tests he himself had carried out with the material in Exhibit 1. Those tests are not part of the present record.

Brown testified that he also examined the panels made by Tomaszewski. He wrote a letter (Exhibit 27) to Duggins on July 1, 1955, reporting to him that the 1.79/1 mole ratio in Exhibit 1 “does not quite give the right results” and that the “1:1 ratio may work.” He *589 wrote Duggins again (Exhibit 28) on July 5, 1955, stating that the material of Exhibit 1

* * * is closer to our possible commercial use than we first thought, because there is apparently an impurity in the dark brown product causing some trouble. On purification of the material we are obtaining better results.
The 1 mole ethylene oxide addition to the 1 mole of 2-butyne-l,4-diol may definitely be the commercial answer for us, and we are looking forward to this sample. * * * 5

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379 F.2d 586, 54 C.C.P.A. 1514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richard-j-clauss-and-henry-brown-v-donald-gardner-foulke-otto-kardos-and-ccpa-1967.