Herman Minkin and H & M Aeronaut Tool Co,, Inc. v. Gibbons, P.C. [excerpts] (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit No. 2011-1178)

摘要

Mr. Muikin worked as an airplane mechanic ... devised a tool that could reach deep inside airplane engines without disassembling external components.... In 1996, Mr. Minkin sought to patent his invention and retained the Gibbons law firm. Mr. Minkin gave the prosecuting attorneys ... a prior art search conducted years earlier by an independent firm [that] revealed at least eleven relevant prior art patents,... As a cost-saving measure, Mr. Minkin requested that Gibbons not supplement the prior art search.