Application of Lepage's Incorporated (A Subsidiary of the Papercraft Corporation, and Assignee of Johnson & Johnson)

There is no room for doubt that one appealing to this court from the Patent Office in a patent or trademark case is required by law to accompany the notice of appeal which is filed with the Commissioner of Patents, or include in it, his “reasons of appeal, specifically set forth in writing.” 35 U.S.C. § 142. I have long been out of sympathy with this requirement. It lacks even the merit of being a pleasant and harmless ritual of the law. It has the great vice of being but a trap for the inexperienced, the unwary, or the careless. From time to time, as in the instant case, it results in the…