In re Swartz
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
232 F.3d 862 (2000)
Mitchell Swartz (plaintiff) sought a patent on a cold fusion process; the examiner rejected the application based on references showing cold fusion results were irreproducible, and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences affirmed, finding Swartz had not rebutted that showing. Swartz appealed, arguing the Board inadequately considered his evidence and arguments.
If the Patent and Trademark Office provides evidence showing that a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art would reasonably doubt the asserted utility of a patent applicant's invention, must the applicant provide sufficient evidence to convince a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art of the invention's utility?