Cantor Colburn Deceived PTO in Patent Process, Fed. Cir. Says

Two inventors misled the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with the help of patent law firm Cantor Colburn LLP, the Federal Circuit said Monday.

Among other things, the inventors withheld information from the PTO to avoid the Patent Act’s on-sale bar, and threatened another company in order to get its support for their application, the court said.

David Cantrell and David Winsness received four patents covering a way to recover oil from the byproduct of an ethanol plant. They demonstrated the technology for a business partner, who tested it and wrote a report on the results, in June 2003. One ...