Application of Johnson

• Decision Date: 10 October 1960
• Docket Number: Patent Appeal No. 6579.
• Citation: 127 USPQ 216,282 F.2d 370
• Parties: Application of Arnold N. JOHNSON.
• Court: U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA)

127 USPQ 216, 282 F.2d 370 (1960)

Application of Arnold N. JOHNSON.

Patent Appeal No. 6579.

United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.

July 20, 1960.

Rehearing Denied October 10, 1960.

Laurence & Laurence, Herbert I. Sherman, Washington, D. C. (Dean Laurence, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for appellant.

Clarence W. Moore, Washington, D. C. (Joseph Schimmel, Washington, D. C., of counsel), for the Commissioner of Patents.

Before WORLEY, Chief Judge, and RICH, MARTIN, and SMITH, Judges, and Judge WILLIAM H. KIRKPATRICK.^*

SMITH, Judge.

This appeal is from the decision of the Board of Appeals of the United States Patent Office affirming the rejection by the Primary Examiner of claim 1 of appellant's application No. 518,340 filed June 27, 1955 for a patent on a condensation product of hexachlorocyclopentadiene. The appealed claim is as follows:

"1. The dimer of hexachlorocyclopentadiene having the formula C10Cl12 and having a melting range of 483 degrees to 487 degrees centigrade."

The reference relied on is

Prins, "Rec. des. trav. Chim. des Pays-Bas," Vol. 65, pages 455-67 (1946).

The reference discloses the claimed dimer of hexachlorocyclopentadiene and, since it was published more than one year prior to the filing date of the instant application, it is a statutory bar under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) unless appellant is entitled under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to rely upon the filing date of his earlier application No. 757,321, filed June 26, 1947 on which patent No. 2,724,730 was granted November 22, 1956. The earlier application was copending with the appealed application and was filed less than a year after the date of the reference.

The issue here is whether appellant is entitled to rely upon 35 U.S.C. § 120 to secure for the present application the benefit of the filing date of the earlier application. The resolution of this issue requires us to determine whether the invention here claimed was disclosed in the earlier application "in the manner provided by the first paragraph of section 112" of 35 U.S.C.

The examiner and the board have held that the earlier application did not disclose the invention here claimed as required by section 120 and stated that the earlier application contained no disclosure of utility for the product here claimed. Appellant asserts that any person skilled in the art to which the claimed invention pertains would be able, with the teachings of the earlier application before him, to use the product 1) as chemical intermediates for organic synthesis, 2) for solvent uses and 3) for the preparation of toxic substances such as "insecticides, fungicides, etc."

No issue has been raised concerning appellant's identification of the claimed compound and disclosure of a method of making it in the earlier application. It is the position of the examiner and the board that the utility of the compound was not sufficiently disclosed therein. The earlier application contains the following assertion of utility:

"The products of the aforesaid process are valuable as chemical intermediates for organic synthesis, for solvent uses and for the preparation of toxic substances such as insecticides, fungicides, etc."

While the examiner and the board both stated that the earlier application did not contain a sufficient statement of the utility of the product here claimed, we find the paragraph just quoted to be sufficient for that purpose. Solvents, intermediates, insecticides and fungicides are products having utility. This meets the utility requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 101. The question remains, however, whether the description of the manner and process of using the compound for these purposes as set forth in the earlier application is sufficient to meet the requirements of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112.

We have had occasion to consider the requirements of section 112 at some length and to discuss them in our recent opinion in In re Nelson and Shabica, 280 F.2d 172, 47 CCPA ____. We there stated:

"The basic purpose of the requirement that the specification contain a written description of the invention is to put those skilled in the art in possession of sufficient knowledge `to enable\' them to practice the invention. One cannot read the wording of section 112 without appreciating that strong language has been used for the purpose of compelling complete disclosure."

The test for sufficiency of compliance with section 112 as stated in the Nelson and Shabica decision is "what the application as a whole communicates to one skilled in the art." In elaborating on that test we said:

"* * * In some cases an applicant may, merely by naming his new instrument or material, indicate what its use is, as, for example, by saying he has invented a `match,\' `hammer,\' `paint,\' `adhesive,\' or `detergent.\' He may or may not have to go further in order to enable others to use the invention, depending on its nature and on how much those of ordinary skill in the art know. In other words, compliance with the law does not necessarily require specific recitations of use but may be inherent in description or may result from disclosure of a sufficient number of properties to make a use obvious; and where those of ordinary skill in the art will know how to use, the applicant has a right to rely on such knowledge. If it will not be sufficient to enable them to use his invention, he must supply the know-how. * * *"

It is well settled that an applicant need not expressly set forth in his specification matters which are commonly understood by persons skilled in the art. Webster Loom Co. v. Higgins et al., 105 U.S. 580, 586, 26 L.Ed. 1177; In re Chilowsky, 229 F.2d 457, 43 CCPA 775. As was said in the former case:

"That which is common and well known is as if it were written out in the patent and delineated in the drawings."

Accordingly, if a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed dimer of hexachlorocyclopentadiene relates would understand how the compounds of appellant's prior application can be used as intermediates, solvents, insecticides or fungicides, the disclosure is sufficient. We therefore do not agree in this case with the board's statement:

"Whether the utility is inherent or not is not the question. The same must be discovered or determined for the completion of an invention."

The issue here is an issue involving adequacy of the disclosures of end uses of the claimed product when tested by the first paragraph of section 112. The reference therein to "any person skilled in the art" requires that we read and interpret the specific disclosures of utility against the background of knowledge possessed by such a person including the knowledge of any inherent utility of the claimed product.

The earlier application discloses utility of the claimed dimer as an intermediate for organic synthesis¹ and for solvent uses in addition to its use in the preparation of toxic substances such as insecticides and fungicides. The decision of the board rested on its findings of inadequacy of the disclosures of utility of the claimed dimer as an insecticide and fungicide. As to these two uses, the board, in finding the disclosure of utility insufficient, said:

"The art of formulating insecticidal compositions may be a well-known art but there must be a determination or discovery for which insects or fungi the substances are effective. The mere formulation is insufficient."

We do not think this is a correct interpretation of the requirements of section 112. We think the earlier application contains a sufficient disclosure to one skilled in these arts when it states the compounds disclosed may be used to prepare toxic substances "such as insecticides, fungicides, etc."

The terms "insecticides" and "fungicides" are terms of general knowledge and application in this art. A person having the ordinary skills in the art would be presumed to know the meaning of these terms as defined in Hackh's Chemical Dictionary (3rd Ed. 1944) as follows:

"Insecticide. An agent used to destroy insects, by dusting or spraying on plants.

"Fungicide. An agent that destroys spores and fungi; as Bordeaux mixture, arsenicals, etc."

Such a person also would be presumed to know the conventional uses of insecticides as described in the Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Interscience Publishers Inc. (1951), as follows:

"Insecticides may be applied as dusts, sprays, fumigants, aerosols, and internal applications. When applied as dusts, the toxicants are in the dry state, and usually in a finely divided form. Frequently the active ingredient is diluted with a material like clay, talc, lime, and pyrophyllite. The actual application of a dust to the area to be treated may be accomplished by sifting from a perforated container or by means of an air blast."

He also would be presumed to know what the same Encyclopedia says of fungicides:

"The word `fungicide\' comes from the Latin fungus, and the Latin caedo, to kill, hence, a fungus killer. In practice the term has come to denote a wider concept. A fungicide is a chemical that will kill, inhibit, or inactivate a fungus so that it does not grow. * * * In general, the term carries a practical connotation, that is, a chemical that prevents fungi or molds from ravaging cloth, wood, plants, animals, and humans, or whatever else they attack."

The compounds are described in appellant's earlier application as solids and, it seems to us, therefore, that it would be well within the expected knowledge of those skilled in this art to use the toxic properties of the claimed dimers in these fields. If used as dust, the product may be diluted as desired, with an inert material.

It is true the application does not recite the concentration to be used, nor the particular kinds of insects or fungi to be treated. In our opinion these are matters which could be expected to be within the knowledge of a person of ordinary skill in this art. A reasonable compliance with section 112 does not require that the...