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In T 633/97 the opponent had to prove that an alleged prior use had in fact been made public, i.e. there was no obligation to maintain secrecy between the respective contractors. The board stated that, depending on the nature of the business relations and the status of the companies involved, the existence of such an obligation might be assumed on a prima facie basis without the necessity of a written agreement. In the case at issue, LLNL was acting in the national interest of the United States of America in fields which had to be considered classified. Specifically, the glass blanks delivered by CII to LLNL and referred to by the appellant were to be used in the Atomic Vapour Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) project depending on the highest quality fused silica available. The very nature of this project, i.e. uranium enrichment technology, led to the conclusion that all persons involved had to be bound to secrecy.
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