Application of Ekenstam
United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals
256 F.2d 321, 118 U.S.P.Q. 349 (1958)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
The Belgian patent office issued patents with two dates. On the brevet octroyé—or granted patent—date, a decree was issued certifying a patent application’s compliance with formal requirements but granting the patentee no specific rights. On the brevet publié—or published patent—date, which generally occurred about three months later, the application papers were made public, and the application became a valid patent. Ekenstam filed a Swedish patent application on June 12, 1950 and a United States patent application the following year. Although Ekenstam was entitled to the benefit of the earlier date, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) board of appeals determined that the application was anticipated by a Belgian patent with a brevet octroyé date of March 31, 1950. The same patent’s brevet publié date was July 1, 1950. Ekenstam appealed to the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Worley, J.)
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