Braun v. Wahl
Braun v. Wahl
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court:
Appeal from a decision of the Commissioner of Patents in an interference proceeding awarding priority of invention to the senior party, Robert Wahl.
The counts sufficiently explained the invention and read as follows:
“1. As an improvement in the art of brewing fermented malt beverages, involving the preparation of a malt-mash, drawing
“2. As an improvement in the art of brewing fermented malt beverages, involving the preparation of a malt-mash, drawing off the wort and boiling the same with hops, cooling and fermenting, the step which consists in adding to the mash an extract of malt in the form of a liquor acidulated with lactic acid propagated therein.”
Ludwig Braun relies for conception and constructive reduction to practice upon an application filed by him in Austria on April 8, 1911. The Examiner of Interferences and the Board of Examiners in Chief agreed that Wahl had established a date of conception of the invention “during the year 1909,” but both tribunals ruled that the evidence failed to show diligence on his part at the time of Braun’s entry into the field; namely, April 8, 1911. The Commissioner, after a careful review of the evidence, agreed with the lower tribunals that Wahl was the first to conceive, and further'ruled that Wahl’s evidence showed diligence just prior to the filing of Braun’s foreign application, and that Wahl’s efforts within a period of two or three weeks resulted in reduction to practice. He therefore awarded priority to Wahl.
Since all the tribunals agreed on’the first question, and as the evidence clearly sustains their finding, we shall confine our discussion to the second.
Max Stahl, superintendent of the Keeley Brewing Company and highly skilled in the art, testified that in the month of March, 1911, Dr. Wahl had spoken to him about his new process, involving the use of lactic acid in the brewing of beer; that about a week later Professor Nilson, in the interests of Wahl, called on him and explained the process, with a view to having it tried. While this px-ocess, according to the witness, “was'against all foxmer teachings,” he finally consented to try it and immediately commenced px’eparations to that end. The
In our view the testimony of the above witness, which we have carefully read and partially reviewed, clearly shows activity on the part of Wahl prior to April 8, 1911, resulting, as found by the Commissioner, in reduction to practice. The decision, therefore, is affirmed. Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BRAUN v. WAHL
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Patents; Interference; Diligence. In an interference involving an improvement in the art of brewing fermented malt beverages, activity on the part of the party first to conceive, sufficient to relieve him of the charge of want of diligence at the time his adversary filed his application in a foreign country, is shown where about a month prior to that date his representative spoke of the process to the superintendent of the brewing company, and about a week later explained it to him with a view to having it tried, and about two weeks thereafter, all of the necessary apparatus having been completed, it was tried and adopted.