Lack of Specific Reference to Priority Application Is Not Fatal to Priority Claim

Reversing a district court finding of invalidity based on an intervening publication, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has now held that a patent may claim priority back to the filing date of a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application not specifically referenced in Broadcast Innovation, L.L.C. v. Charter Communications, Inc., Case No. 05-1008 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 19, 2005) (Rader, J.). The patent in issue does not include a specific reference to the initial foreign patent applications or the PCT application in its specification. However, during prosecution of the application the applicant filed a transmittal letter and an oath and declaration claiming priority to the foreign applications and the corresponding PCT application. The district court based its summary judgment of invalidity of the absence of any specific reference to the PCT application on the face of U.S. Patent No. 6,076,094 (the `094 patent) applying the intervening prior art. Broadcast appealed.