In an appeal stemming from the denial of a patent application
under § 102(b), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit reversed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) by
holding that the claims' preambles were claim limitations that
overcame anticipation over the cited prior art. In re: Fought, Case
No. 19-1127 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 4, 2019 (Newman, J).
The patent application at issue contained two claims, each of
which recited the same preamble: "A travel trailer having . .
. ." The examiner rejected each claim under (pre-America
Invents Act) § 102(b). A first reference, cited by the
examiner to reject claim 1, described a conventional truck trailer
such as a refrigerated trailer. The second reference cited by the
examiner to reject claim 2 described a bulkhead for shipping
compartments.