A witness credibility battle erupted in Dynamic Drinkware LLC v. National Graphics, Inc., IPR2013-00131, where the Board found that Patent Owner antedated a key prior art reference…despite the fact that the inventor testified on behalf of Petitioner. To uphold its burden of proving an earlier invention, Patent Owner relied on testimony from two fact witnesses who explained the steps undertaken by Patent Owner in conceiving and reducing to practice the claimed invention. Order at 7. In rebuttal, Petitioner relied on testimony from the inventor himself. Id. The inventor testified that while working for Patent Owner and developing the product, “None of the products [were produced]…in a way that was consistent with the claims of the ‘196 patent.” Id. at 10. The inventor further testified his notebook entry “confirms that we still had a long way to go [for commercialization].”

The Board sided with Patent Owner, finding that “[t]here is no requirement that the invention, when tested, be in a commercially satisfactory stage of development.” Steinberg v. Seitz, 517 F.2d 1359, 1363 (Fed. Cir. 1975) “The fact that further refinements of the invention were made is not relevant.” Farrand Optical Co. v. United States, 325 F.2d 328, 333 (2d Cir.1963). Order at 13.

Thus, the testimony from the inventor himself did not persuade the Board that the invention was not reduced to practice prior to the critical date of a key prior art reference. Id. at 17. The Board found Patent Owner’s witnesses properly antedated the reference and, without that prior art, the proposed challenge grounds from the Petition failed.