CAFC addresses 35 USC 146 in Streck

The conclusion of the case:

On this appeal, R&D’s principal argument is not that the district court erred on the entirety of the evidence, but that the Board’s findings should prevail if they were sup- ported by substantial evidence before the Board, and there- fore that the district court’s de novo procedure was incorrect. However, as we have observed, §146 establishes de novo review. The purpose of §146 is to bring to bear, upon the contested issues of priority of invention, the proce- dures and rules of federal litigation. The statutory alterna- tive of a civil action in the district court following the decision of the PTO tribunal implements the purpose whereby judicial process is the final arbiter of the rights and issues administratively assigned to the PTO. On the en- tirety of the evidence, the district court’s findings and conclusion that R&D did not establish a reduction to prac- tice with Johnson’s 1996 experiments is affirmed. The court correctly awarded priority of invention to Ryan and Streck.