Intellectual Property Law

Chapter 19 Case Study Answers

Case Study: Fit Forever has developed a new type of resistance band, which it has
demonstrated at a trade show. Exercise Planet, Inc. attended the trade show, and filed a
patent application for identical resistance bands on September 1. One month later, Fit
Forever filed its patent application for the resistance bands. The examining attorney has
rejected Fit Forever’s application because it was not the first to file the patent application
for the product.

Activities: What should Fit Forever do? Of what benefit would records of attendees at
the trade show be to Fit Forever?

Although Exercise Planet, Inc. is the first to file the application, it is not the
first inventor to file the application. Fit Forever should bring a derivation
proceeding to determine whether Exercise Planet, Inc. derived the invention
from Fit Forever, and, without authorization, filed a patent application for
the invention. Fit Forever must file a petition for the derivation proceeding
within one year after first publication of a claim that is the same or
substantially the same as a claim in the earlier-filed application. If Fit
Forever can show that Exercise Planet, Inc. attended the trade show, then
this may help prove that Exercise Planet, Inc. had access to the invention and
derived it from Fit Forever.