Application of Eisler, Patent Appeals No. 5966.

• Decision Date: 15 April 1953
• Docket Number: Patent Appeals No. 5966.
• Citation: 203 F.2d 726
• Parties: Application of EISLER.
• Court: U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA)

203 F.2d 726 (1953)

Application of EISLER.

Patent Appeals No. 5966.

United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.

April 15, 1953.

Frederick E. Hane, New York City (Abraham J. Nydick, New York City, A. M. Holcombe and Joseph F. Brisebois, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for appellant.

E. L. Reynolds, Washington, D. C. (H. S. Miller, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for Commissioner of Patents.

Before GARRETT, Chief Judge, and O'CONNELL, JOHNSON, WORLEY, and COLE, Judges.

O'CONNELL, Judge.

This is an appeal from the decision of the Board of Appeals of the United States Patent Office affirming that of the Primary Examiner rejecting (a) claims 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8 of appellant's application for a patent on an invention relating to the manufacture of electrical apparatus, particularly to the production of electric and magnetic circuits and parts thereof, known as the printed circuit art, and rejecting (b) claims 2, 3, 5, 9 and 10 as not readable upon the elected species.

Claim 1 is illustrative:

"1. A method of producing the conductive metal portions of three-dimensional electric and magnetic circuit components in which the metal portions do not lie in one plane in the finished component and cannot without severance of the conductive circuit be developed into one plane, which consists in printing a dissection of the circuit, preparing from the print a flexible metal pattern of the circuit upon a flexible insulating support, and folding said support and pattern to bring into register predetermined zones of the pattern adapted to be conductively joined in circuit and to give the pattern the desired three-dimensional form."

The following stipulation of record is deemed necessary to a proper understanding and disposition of the issues presented:

"It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between counsel for appellant and the Solicitor of the Patent Office * * * that the specification and drawings of appellant\'s application Serial No. 11,796 may be omitted, being identical with the specification and drawings of appellant\'s Patent No. 2,441,960, to be included in said record, with the following addition on the last page * * * at the end of the description * * * namely: — This application is a division of my original application Serial No. 520,991, filed February 3, 1944, now patent No. 2,441,960, dated May 25, 1948, entitled `Manufacture of Electric Circuit Components\'.

"It is further stipulated and agreed that in response to the Examiner\'s requirement for an election of species between species (a) and (b) as set forth in his action of February 8, 1950, applicant (appellant) elected species (a) and requested that action on species (b) be suspended pending allowance of a generic claim."

Claims in group (a) define a species of electric circuit in which the printed circuit is folded over to be joined at selected points or areas to complete a circuit involving crossing electric conductors. The involved subject matter was described by the board more particularly in the following excerpt from its decision, reference to specific figures of the drawing being omitted here as indicated by asterisks:

"The application discloses a method for making an assembly of electric circuits or for making parts of electric apparatus such as induction coils for example. The conductive circuits are formed on the surface of a sheet like insulation member by a process involving printing. In the electric circuits illustrated in * * * the drawing, for example, certain of the conductors cross and obviously cannot be located on the same surface of the insulation sheet and be maintained out of contact with each other as they must be. The circuits are divided by the engineer into two portions which are illustrated * * * respectively and none of the conductive elements of a circuit in each of the portions crosses any of the other elements in that portion. The circuits are metallic and are applied to a sheet of insulation. These sheets are assembled back to back with the conductive parts on the two outer sides of the assembly. Some of the circuits are then partly on one surface of the assembly and partly on the other surface and to complete them the associated ends of the interrupted parts are connected by conductive elements, such as rivets or wires, which are punched through the assembly making up the insulating backing or support. The supports

...