Abstract #300014

This is the preliminary program for the 2003 Joint Statistical Meetings in San Francisco, California. Currently included in this program is the "technical" program, schedule of invited, topic contributed, regular contributed and poster sessions; Continuing Education courses (August 2-5, 2003); and Committee and Business Meetings. This on-line program will be updated frequently to reflect the most current revisions.

To View the Program:
You may choose to view all activities of the program or just parts of it at any one time. All activities are arranged by date and time.

The views expressed here are those of the individual authors
and not necessarily those of the ASA or its board, officers, or staff.

Back to main JSM 2003 Program page
JSM 2003 Abstract #300014
Activity Number: 221
Type: Invited
Date/Time: Tuesday, August 5, 2003 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
Sponsor: Chance
Abstract - #300014
Title: Crossing Lines in a Patent Case
Author(s): Joseph B. Kadane*+
Companies: Carnegie Mellon University
Address: Department of Statistics, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213,
Keywords:
Abstract:

This paper recounts the experiences of the author as a rebuttal expert witness in a patent case. The issue was whether the inventor had added material to a page in his notebook after the page had been witnessed, thus claiming an earlier date for the added material than was true. The evidence for this came from an X-ray analysis of the paper, witness line, text, and the line-text intersection. It was claimed that the intersection more closely resembled the text than the witness line, supporting the idea that the text was superimposed on the witness line. My analysis showed that the X-ray data on the raw paper very closely resembled that of the witness line, so the witness line is invisible to the X-ray machine. Hence it could be above or below the text, and the X-ray data would be the same. This was confirmed by physical experiments showing that the energy of the X-ray goes through the whole page, without being blocked by the ink. The other side withdrew their experts and abandoned the claim that these data showed wrongful conduct by the experimenter.

  • The address information is for the authors that have a + after their name.
  • Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.

Back to the full JSM 2003 program

JSM 2003 For information, contact meetings@amstat.org or phone (703) 684-1221. If you have questions about the Continuing Education program, please contact the Education Department.
Revised March 2003