Opinion ID: 787574
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Elsner Application

Text: 2 Mr. Wilhelm Elsner is a plant breeder who resides in Germany and whose botanical products include various varieties of geraniums. In September 1997, he filed an application for a Community Plant Variety Rights (CPVR) Certificate, or Plant Breeder's Rights (PBR), at the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) in Europe for a type of geranium named Pendec. The variety originated as a mutation of a parent geranium plant named Pendresd. Elsner's application, designated EU 97/0950, was listed in the CPVO Official Gazette that was published in December 1997. That listing disclosed the names and addresses of the breeder and its representative, a statement of botanical classification, and a provisional denomination for the plant. In July 1998, a sale of the Pendec geranium occurred in Germany. Elsner withdrew the application in May 1999, and it did not therefore mature into a CPVR certificate. 3 In September 2000, Elsner filed a plant patent application at the PTO claiming the Pendec geranium. The patent examiner rejected the only claim in the application as anticipated under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b), on the ground that the EU 97/0950 listing had been published more than one year before the effective filing date of Elsner's U.S. application. She concluded that the listing disclosed the invention and that the sales placed the skilled artisan in possession of the invention. Elsner appealed to the Board, which affirmed the rejection, and Elsner appeals to this court.