Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc., and Douglas H. Moreton v. Frederick H. Mueller, Secretary of Commerce, and Robert C. Watson, Commissioner of Patents

FAHY, Circuit Judge.

The question comes down to whether the claim of appellants, herein referred to for convenience as Moreton, amounts to patentable invention considered in light of the prior art represented by a patent to Watson, No. 2,636,862. The Examiner and Board of Appeals in the Patent Office ruled against Moreton, as did the District Court after a trial de novo in an action pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 145 (1958). The appeal is from the judgment dismissing the Moreton complaint.

Involved is a chemical composition useful as a hydraulic fluid, particularly in aircraft. Watson’s patent was for…