Patent Owner’s attempt to disqualify prior art in an inter partes review failed because it could not show diligence from conception to reduction to practice in Medtronic, Inc., et al. v. Troy R. Norred, M.D., IPR2014-00395, U.S. Patent No. 6,482,228.

Patent Owner’s preliminary response sought to remove one of the allegedly-anticipatory references as prior art by providing evidence of conception prior to the effective filing date of the reference and diligence to reduction to practice (the filing of the patent application, in this instance). To remove a reference with an art-date during 1999, Patent Owner argued that the claims at issue of the ‘228 patent were conceived in late 1998 and there was reasonable diligence until reduction to practice. To support the argument, Patent Owner submitted documentary evidence and exhibits to the Board.

The Board was not persuaded, however, finding that the exhibits were not sufficiently linked to each claim limitation to prove reasonable diligence during the period between conception and filing of the patent application. The Board specifically pointed out that though some exhibits pertained to drawings present in the ‘228 patent, those drawings were not relied upon to illustrate claimed features of the invention. Further, the evidence presented did not show several claimed features of the ‘228 invention, including a “tissue valve.” Therefore, reasonable diligence was not proven for all claimed features and the reference at issue was deemed to be prior art.