ANGELITA MANZANO VS. CA

FACTS: Manzano filed with the Philippine Patent Office for the cancellation of Letters Patent for a gas burner registered in the name of respondent Madolaria who subsequently assigned the letters patent to United Foundry. Petitioner alleged that the gas burner was not inventive, new or useful; that the specification of the letters patent did not comply with the requirements of the law; that respondent Madolaria was not the original inventor nor did she derive her rights from the original inventor of the utility model; and that the letters patent was secured by means of fraud or misrepresentation. He further alleged that the utility model had been known by others in the Philippines for more than one (1) year before her application. The Director of Patents denied the petition because not one of the pictures submitted as evidence convincingly showed that the devices presented by petitioner was identical with that of respondent’s. It may not be used as prior art reference because such were not dated. No evidence showed to prove misrepresentation.

SC: Affirmed DoP for lack of evidence.

An invention must possess the essential elements of novelty, originality and precedence, and for the patentee to be entitled to the protection the invention must be new to the world. The burden of proving want of novelty is on him who avers it and the burden is a heavy one which is met only by reasonable doubt.

Pursuant to the requirement of clear and convincing evidence to overthrow the presumption of validity of a patent, it has been held that oral testimony to show anticipation is open to suspicion and if uncorroborated by cogent evidence, as what occurred in this case, it may be held insufficient. The question on priority of invention is one of fact.

A utility model shall not be considered "new" if before the application for a patent it has been publicly known or publicly used in this country or has been described in a printed publication or publications circulated within the country, or if it is substantially similar to any other utility model so known, used or described within the country.