Court Opinion

ID: 9485922
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 11:33:55.771578+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:51:26.811693
License: Public Domain

RADER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
Citing inadequate findings from the trial court, this court vacates and remands a second time. I dissent. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52 requires the trial court to “find the facts specially and state separately its conclusion of law thereon.” In this case, the district court — after twenty-five days of trial and further proceedings upon remand from this court — made findings and reached conclusions. The record amply supports those findings and conclusions. This court should therefore affirm.
Rule 52 does not require district judges, like cartographers, to produce a map marking each turn in reasoning clearly enough for even circuit judges to follow. Particularly when the facts and law show that the trial court could reach no other conclusion than it reached, cartography skills are not the hallmark of judging. In this case, the record itself discloses an unmistakable path to the district court’s legal judgment. This court should not need, nor require, a roadmap. Nonetheless, in the interest of comity, I will supply the map *:
In the United States District Court
This district court finds that the ’204 patent is not invalid under the on-sale bar of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). Faytex has the burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that Atlantic sold or offered for sale a product embodying (or rendering obvious) the claimed innersole before the critical date of October 9, 1984. See Buildex Inc. v. Kason Indus., Inc., 849 F.2d 1461, 1462-63, 7 USPQ2d 1325, 1326-27 (Fed.Cir.1988). After reviewing the record of twenty-five days of trial and the parties’ submissions on remand, this court finds that Faytex did not meet its burden.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has set forth several tests for the on-sale bar of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). The appellate court has stated that the on-sale bar requires: (1) the complete invention claimed must have been embodied in or obvious in view of the subject matter of the sale; (2) the invention must have been tested sufficiently to verify its operability; and (3) the sale must have been primarily for profit rather than experimental purposes (Test No. 1). See King Instrument Corp. v. Otari Corp., 767 F.2d 853, 859-60, 226 USPQ 402, 406 (Fed.Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1016 [106 S.Ct. 1197, 89 L.Ed.2d 312] (1986); Barmag Barmer Maschinenfabrik AG v. Murata Mach., Ltd., 731 F.2d 831, 835-37, 221 USPQ 561, 564-65 (Fed.Cir.1984); see also
*1483In re Corcoran, 640 F.2d 1331, 1333-34, 208 USPQ 867, 870 (CCPA 1981).
The Federal Circuit has cautioned, however, that this test does not apply in all cases. Barmag, 731 F.2d at 837. Circumstances may require a court to apply a less stringent standard to avoid frustrating the policies underlying the bar. King, 767 F.2d at 860. Those policies include: (1) discouraging removal of inventions from the public domain that the public justifiably believes are freely available; (2) favoring prompt and widespread disclosure of inventions; (3) prohibiting extension of the statutory period of exclusive rights; and (4) providing a reasonable time after sales activity for inventors to determine whether the invention warrants the expense of patenting. Id. Thus, this district court recognizes that it must temper application of Test No. 1 "with consideration of these policies.
In other cases, the Federal Circuit set forth another version of the on-sale bar test requiring: (1) a sale or definite offer to sell- more than one year prior to the critical date; (2) evidence that the thing sold or offered for sale anticipates or renders obvious the' later-claimed invention; and (3) weighing of the circumstances surrounding the sale or offer in light of the underlying policies. See UMC Elec. Co. v. United States, 816 F.2d 647, 656, 2 USPQ2d 1465, 1471-72 (Fed.Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 [U.S.] 1025 [108 S.Ct. 748, 98 L.Ed.2d 761](1988). This second formulation adds to the complexity of the first test.
Finally, in some eases, the Federal Circuit has gone straight to weighing of the “totality of the circumstances” against the policies because “the policies or purposes underlying the on-sale bar, in effect define it.” E.g., Manville Sales Corp. v. Paramount Systems, Inc., 917 F.2d 544, 549-50, 16 USPQ2d 1587, 1591-92 (Fed.Cir.1990). After full consideration of this bewildering and blinding blizzard of instructions,1 this district court determines that Atlantic’s patent is not invalid under the on-sale bar. For the reasons given below, Faytex did not meet its burden under any of the Federal Circuit’s tests.
Under Test No. 1, Atlantic’s invention was not sufficiently developed to have been on-sale before October 9, 1984. As noted above, the Federal Circuit has stated that the subject matter of the sale or offer to sell must fully anticipate the claimed invention or must render the claimed invention obvious by its addition to the prior art.2 Buildex, 849 F.2d at 1462; UMC, 816 F.2d at 656.
*1484Faytex contends that Atlantic offered to sell its innersole to Triangle at a meeting on May 3,1984. At the May 1984 meeting, Atlantic identified its innersole as experimental and still under development. (Appendix (App.) 103-04, 294-95, 467-69, 473, 640.) Referring to the May 3 meeting, Mr. Richard Fox, one of the inventors, testified: “I didn’t want to sell something that we couldn’t make.” (App. 158.)
On the second part of Test No. 1, the invention was not complete principally because the elastomeric insert was not tacky enough to stay in place in the mold upon injection of the polyurethane. (App. 158-59, 393-97, 404-05.) Indeed testing and experimentation did not solve this problem until at least November or December of 1984. (App. 112-13, 158-60A, 403-07, 469-80.) Without sufficient tack, the heel insert could shift out of position and defeat the cushioning purpose of the invention. (App. 112, 160A, 403-05.) Atlantic had not developed the invention sufficiently to serve its intended purpose until after the critical date of October 9. Accordingly, the on-sale bar cannot apply. See A.B. Chance Co. v. RTE Corp., 854 F.2d 1307, 1311-12, 7 USPQ2d 1881, 1884-85 (Fed.Cir.1988).
On the third prong of this first test for an on-sale bar, the alleged commercial activity between Atlantic and Triangle during 1984 and early. 1985 fits within the experimental use exception to-the on-sale bar. The Federal Circuit states that a sale for experimental, rather than commercial purposes, does not constitute a bar. Manville, 917 F.2d at 550.
From the outset of their relationship, Atlantic and Triangle both insisted on extensive testing to determine whether the invention would work. (App. 467, 469-70.) Atlantic sent samples of its developing product to Triangle for testing as late as January 1985. (App. 467, 469-70, 471, 903.) To ensure that the testing remained experimental rather than commercial, Atlantic required Triangle to keep the prototype confidential. (App. 104, 645, 649.) Atlantic’s insistence on confidentiality underscores the experimental nature of its prototype product. Rather than seeking secrecy; commercial profit-seekers advertise.
The Federal Circuit has clarified that any testing must relate to the claimed features of the invention to qualify as experimental. In re Brigance, 792 F.2d 1103, 1109, 229 USPQ 988, 991-92 (Fed.Cir.1986). Claim 1 of the ’204 patent requires the elastomeric insert to have “sufficient surface tack to remain in the placed position in the mold on the introduction of the expandable polyurethane material.” Thus, Atlantic satisfies this requirement as well.
Finally, Atlantic did not. commercially exploit the invention at all. Atlantic did not even receive any money for the test samples it sent Triangle until a January 1985 shipment, well after the October 1984 critical date. (App. 299, 471, 908.) As noted above, Atlantic could have sold its prototypes for experimental purposes without triggering the on sale bar. Manville, 917 F.2d at 550. Perhaps out of an abundance of caution, Atlantic did not even risk experimental sales. It sold nothing. Atlantic exhibited the classic hallmarks of experimentation, not commercialization. See id. It did not trigger the on-sale bar.
Faytex argues that the activities between Atlantic and Triangle could not have been experimental because Atlantic’s inventors admitted reducing the invention to practice before May 1984. See RCA Corp. v. Data General Corp., 887 F.2d 1056, 1061, 12 USPQ2d 1449, 1453 (Fed.Cir.1989) (for on-sale purposes, experimentation ends with reduction to practice). Faytex moved pretrial for summary judgment contending that a prior art reference anticipated the ’204 patent. To show that the ’204 patent antedated the prior art reference, Faytex argues that Atlantic needed to claim reduction to practice before May 1984. Faytex is incorrect. In denying Faytex’s motion for summary *1485judgment, this district court did not find a reduction to practice before May 1984 because such a finding was unnecessary. To predate a prior art reference, an inventor need only show prior conception and reasonable diligence to reduce the invention to practice. See Griffith v. Kanamaru, 816 F.2d 624, 626, 2 USPQ2d 1361, 1362 (Fed.Cir.1987).
Moreover, the supposed admissions by the ’204 patent’s inventors do not admit reduction to practice before May 1984. Rather the inventors noted repeatedly that they had an “experimental prototype” before and after May 1984. (App. 413, 651-52, 657-58, 66CU61, 696, 698.) By use of the term “experimental prototype,” the inventors made clear the experimental nature of their invention in May 1984. (App. 413.) Furthermore, this district court finds that any alleged evidence of pre-May 1984 reduction to practice is greatly outweighed by the evidence at trial showing that Atlantic’s inventors did not reduce the invention to practice until November 1984 or later. (App. 160-61, 361-61A, 362-63, 408, 469, 661, 698.)
Thus, under Test No. 1, Faytex did not show that Atlantic’s ’204 patent is invalid under the on-sale bar. See Barmag, 731 F.2d at 837. Consideration of the policies underlying the on-sale bar buttresses this conclusion. None of Atlantic’s activities could have led the public to believe that the invention later described in the ’204 patent was available. Atlantic did not exploit the invention commercially, and therefore did not try to extend the statutory period of exclusivity. In light of the inventors’ work to solve the tackiness problem, among others, they did not unduly delay the disclosure of the invention to the public. Rather the inventory took a reasonable time to learn the merits of their invention. Rejecting Faytex’s assertion of the on-sale bar furthers, rather than frustrates, .the “statutory policies”.3
Next, this district court proceeds to consider the additional factors mentioned in the Federal Circuit’s second formulation of the on-sale bar. Faytex did not show a definite sale of or offer to sell a product embodying the patented invention before October 9, 1984. See RCA Corp., 887 F.2d at 1062 (“where there is no sale, a definite offer to sell is an essential requirement of the on-sale bar”).' Faytex asserts that two letters from Atlantic to Triangle evince a definite offer to sell the patented invention. Neither letter, however, contains a definite offer to sell. ' The letters contain no quotation of price, no discussion of quantity, no delivery terms, no payment terms, no warranties, nor any other hallmark of an offer to sell. (App. 701-03, 711-14.) Neither letter could have been “accepted” by Triangle to create a binding contract between it and Atlantic. The letters are simply too indefinite.
The Indefiniteness of both letters is starkly in contrast to the offer for sale in Barmag Barmer Maschinenfabrik AG v. Murata Mach. Ltd., 731 F.2d 831, 221 USPQ 561 (Fed.Cir.1984). At most, the *1486letters disclose Atlantic’s intent or desire ultimately to sell Triangle the product later described in the ’204 patent — if the product could be developed. Such an intent is different from an offer to sell and does riot trigger the on sale bar. Envirotech Corp. v. Westech Eng’g Inc., 904 F.2d 1571, 1574-75, 15 USPQ2d 1230, 1232-33 (Fed.Cir.1990).
Faytex incorrectly argues that the July 9, 1984 letter contains a price quotation that, when combined with the parties’ other dealings, constituted an offer to sell. The July 9 letter merely contained a request for payment of tooling costs that Atlantic incurred in making mold tools and patterns for several products, including its experimental innersole. The letter does not contain a price quotation for sale of the innersole later described in the ’204 patent. By its terms, the letter merely provides a range of projected unit costs .'for the various innersoles. Neither Atlantic nor Triangle viewed the July 9 letter as providing a price quote. (App. 320, 480-82, 650-51.) Atlantic provided the projections to enable Triangle to make, an economic decision about incurring the tool and die expenses for the respective products. (App. 320.)
In fact, on November 5,1984, nearly one month after the critical date, James W. Post, General Manager of Health and Fitness Systems at Triangle/Campbell, sent a letter to Robert Fox of Atlantic concerning several of Atlantic’s products, including the incomplete invention. That letter contained the following post-script: “I’m also waiting for your first crack at pricing all five products.” (App. 904.) Triangle was still waiting for Atlantic’s first price quote on the experimental innersole in November 1984, months after the July 9 letter, and nearly one month after the critical date. Clearly the July 9 letter contained no price quotation and thus no definite offer to sell the innersole. This finding, when coupled with this court’s consideration of the policies underlying the on-sale bar, leads this court to conclude that Fay-tex did not meet the Federal Circuit’s see-ond batch of requirements for the on-sale bar.
Finally, going directly to consideration of the policies underlying the on-sale bar, this district court again discerns no record support for an on-sale bar. As noted above, Faytex has not shown how rejection of its assertion of the on-sale bar will frustrate any of these policies. Thus, Fay-tex has not met its burden under the Federal Circuit’s third formulation of the on-sale bar.
Under each of the three Federal Circuit on-sale bar tests,4 Faytex does not meet its burden. To repeat, the record of trial clearly shows that the innersole described in the ’204 patent was not on sale more than one year before the application date: the innersole was not sufficiently developed before the critical date; the innersole was still in testing until after the critical date; the innersole provided Atlantic no economic return at all before that date; Atlantic made no sale of or definite offer to sell the experimental innersole before the critical date; the policies underlying the on-sale bar do not support Faytex’s case. Each of these findings independently warrants rejection of the on-sale bar. Moreover as noted above, Faytex had a high burden to meet this defense. Viewing all of the circumstances, this court finds that the ’204 patent is not invalid under the on-sale bar.
This appellate court has repeatedly stated that it reviews “judgments not opinions.” E.g., Chemical Eng’g Corp. v. Essef Indus. Inc., 795 F.2d 1565, 1572, 230 USPQ 385, 390 (Fed.Cir.1986), Fromson v. Advance Offset Plate, Inc., 755 F.2d 1549, 1556 (Fed.Cir.1985); Chore-Time Equip., Inc. v. Cumberland Corp., 713 F.2d 774, 781, 218 USPQ 673, 677 (Fed.Cir.1983). In reviewing,
we are not ourselves finding those facts which the trial court failed to set out for us. As an appellate court, we lack the power to perform that exercise. Where the trial court fails to make findings, the judgment will normally be vacated and the *1487action remanded for appropriate findings to be made. [Footnote omitted.] Where a full understanding may be had without the aid of separate findings, however, we recognize a narrow exception to that general rule. [Footnote omitted.]
ACS Hospital Systems, Inc. v. Montefiore Hospital, 732 F.2d 1572, 1578, 221 USPQ 929, 933 (Fed.Cir.1984). In the instant case, the record abundantly supports the district court’s judgment. This court correctly remanded when the district court in a single sentence found no statutory bar. Atlantic Thermoplastics Co. v. Faytex Corp., 970 F.2d 834, 836-37, 23 USPQ2d 1481, 1483 (Fed.Cir.1992). At that time, this court had nothing to review. Id. 970 F.2d at 837. On remand, however, the trial court reviewed the entire issue a second time. For the reasons set forth above, the district court again found no bar. This court now calls for still another remand.
As this court has stated, however, “ ‘[n]o useful purpose would be served by a remand to enable the district court to tell us in express terms what we already know from the record.’ ” Carroll Touch, Inc. v. Electro Mechanical Systems, Inc., 3 F.3d 404, 415 (Fed.Cir.1993) (citing Consolidated Aluminum, Corp. v. Foseco Int'l Ltd., 910 F.2d 804, 815, 15 USPQ2d 1481, 1489 (Fed.Cir.1990)). Although its opinion erected a few signposts instead of drawing a detailed map, the district court satisfied Rule 52. Because the record supports that judgment, this appellate court need not demand a roadmap.

The citations to the record in this hypothetical district court opinion refer to the record in this case on appeal.

. Commentators note that recent Federal Circuit on-sale bar decisions have not provided district courts and practitioners with any sense of predictability. See David W. Carstens & Craig Allen Nard, Conception and the “On Sale" Bar, 34 Wm. & Mary L.Rev. 393, 398 (1993) (each Federal Circuit decision analyzing on-sale bar "involved a different panel of three judges, and each panel analyzed the ‘on sale’ bar differently”); William K. West, Jr. & Nancy J. Linck, The Law of "Public Use" and "On Sale": Past Present and Future, 72 J. Pat. & Trademark Off. Soc’y 114, 115 (1990) (Federal Circuit's insistence on "totality of circumstances" test may tend to make predictability of result even more difficult than before); Comment, Envirotech Corp. v. Westech Engineering, Inc.: The On-Sale Bar to Patentability and Executory Sales Offers, 75.Minn.L.Rev. 1505, 1508 (1991) (recognizing that some commentators criticize the Federal Circuit's application of the on-sale bar for lacking predictability, failing to inform inventors how to behave, failing to inform lower courts how to invoke the bar, and thus encouraging litigation); Note, UMC Electronics v. United States: Should Reduction to Practice be a Requirement of the On Sale Bar?, 12 U. Puget Sound L.Rev. 131, 1’61 (1988) (Federal Circuit’s "totality of circumstances” test fails to provide district courts, patent attorneys and inventors with predictability as to when the on-sale bar is triggered). Despite the Federal Circuit’s maze of different legal formulations for the on-sale bar, this district court recognizes its obligation to follow all directives of the Court of Appeals. Thus this district court shall endeavor to comply with all the varied formulations.

. Commentators have suggested that this standard is not a model of clarity. See, e.g., 1 Martin J. Adelman, Patent Law Perspectives § 2.3[7.-2] at 2-182,3 (“A badly divided Federal Circuit panel has considerably confused the law of 'on sale' by holding in UMC Electronics Co. v. United States that an invention need not have been 'actually ' reduced to practice’ in order to be 'on sale’ within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b).’’); Robert L. Harmon, Patents and the Federal Circuit 63-64 (2d ed. 1991) ("Upon closer analysis, however, the court’s ruling, seems less than clear.... [I]t can only cause confusion in interference law, with its special technical considerations, and in operation of the on-sale bar....’’).
*1484Like expert commentators, this district court struggles on occasion to discern the Federal Circuit's legal guidelines. Nonetheless this district court gave Faytex wide latitude to show that the subject matter of the purported offer would have rendered the claimed invention obvious.

. Although the Federal Circuit has referred to these policies as "statutory policies,” see King Instrument Corp. v. Otari Corp., 767 F.2d 853, 860, 226 USPQ 402, 406 (Fed.Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1016 [106 S.Ct. 1197, 891 L.Ed.2d 312] (1986); Western Marine Elec. v. Furuno Elec. Co., 764 F.2d 840, 844, 226 USPQ 334, 337 (Fed.Cir.1985); Barmag Barmer Maschinenfabrik AG v. Murata Mach., Ltd., 731 F.2d 831, 837, 221 USPQ 561, 565 (Fed.Cir.1984), it is not clear that they are. If Congress had intended this flurry of "statutory policies” to govern the on-sale bar, it would probably have inserted them into the statute. Because not in the statute, these policies should probably not be called "statutory.”
A ■ multi-factored "totality of the circumstances” test no doubt satisfies a judge's preference for the discretion to emphasize those factors favoring an equitable outcome. See UMC Elec. Co. v. United States, 816 F.2d 647, 664 (Fed.Cir.1987) (Smith, J., dissenting), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1025 [108 S.Ct. 748, 98 L.Ed.2d 761] (1988). In an international marketplace, however, the predictability and certainty of a bright-line test, such as that suggested b.y section 102(b) of the Patent Act, ought to trump judicial discretion. Moreover, as Judge Smith noted in his compelling dissent in the UMC case, the on-sale bar is in the nature of a statute of limitations, and therefore the onset of the bar must be reasonably clear.. See id. at 659-60 (Smith, J., dissenting). This district court nonetheless afforded Faytex ample opportunity to show that application of the on-sale bar would further these "policies” as well as the statutory requirements of the Patent Act.

. While the Federal Circuit may in fact have more than three tests (the circuit is authorized twelve judges, 28 U.S.C. § 44 (1988)), this district court’s study suggests that these three tests adequately represent the basic factors given weight by the Federal Circuit.