262 F. 647 | D.C. Cir. | 1920
Braun appeals from a decision of the Assistant Commissioner of Patents awarding priority to Wiegand in an interference concerning the invention of an apparatus for embedding an electric resistance wire in the insulating portion of heating devices, such as the electric sadiron. There are 14 counts, illustrated sufficiently by counts 1, 5, 6, and 9:
1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a base support, a supporting device for a conductor, means for moving said device toward and from the base, and means adapted to remove the conductor from its supporting device and apply it to the base.
5. As a means for applying a conductor to a suitable base, the combination of a plurality of pins whereto the conductor is applied, and means co-operating with the conductor to remove the same from the pins.
*648 6. As a means for applying a conductor to a suitable base, tbe combination of a support for a conductor, and means co-operating with tbe conductor to remove tbe same from tbe support.
9. In an apparatus of tbe character described, tbe combination of a base support, a base plate having a plurality of pins projecting therefrom on the ends of which the conductor is wound, a stripping plate mounted on the pins and interposed between the conductor and the base plate, means for moving said base plate toward the base support, and means for moving the stripping plate relatively to the base plate to remove the conductor from the projecting ends of the pins.
Wiegand, a young man, became an employé of the same company in June, 1911. He had taken a course in electrical engineering, and, with his brother, had equipped a shop at his home, where he made various electrical devices, such as motors, batteries, etc. In January, 1912, he was assigned to the work of assembling and testing the irons .which the company was manufacturing. After awhile he became foreman of the electric flatiron department, and was regarded as an expert in that line.
Braun assigned his application to his employer. Nearly all his witnesses are officers of that company, while Wiegand depends on the testimony of himself, his brothers, and a friend. The evidence is very conflicting; nearly every material statement made by the one side is denied by the other. We must, therefore, test its accuracy by the circumstances surrounding the parties, as well as by things which were done or omitted to be done by them, and about which there is no controversy.
An important consideration in this connection is the fact that the sadirons which the company was manufacturing were totally unsatisfactory, and consequently that it was very anxious to discover an iron which would meet the requirements of the trade. Keeping this in mind, we find that Braun’s preliminary statement asserts conception in October, 1911, and disclosure about January 15, 1912. Haug, the general superintendent of the company, testified that in the early part of December, 1911, after the president of the company had strongly ex
Wiegand gave much attention to experimental work. Besides the patent in controversy, he had obtained two other patents. It is admitted that he made the working drawings for the machine of the issue. He claims that they were made at his home, while Braun insists that they were made at the factory, under the latter’s directions. Wiegand is supported by the testimony of his brother, who says that the drawings were made at his home at night. Another brother testifies that in January, 1912, Wiegand told him that he had a nachine figured out which “would bring this wire down, put it in the bottom all at once, something in this style,” and illustrated it by bringing his right hand down into his left hand. Wiegand filed his application in January, 1914, and left the company in the summer of that year. This shows that Wiegand had a conception of the invention of the issue before Braun, unless the latter has established beyond a reasonable doubt that he conceived it in 1911 and disclosed it in January, 1912. But he has not done so.
In addition to this it must not be overlooked, because it is in our judgment of much importance, that Braun did not apply for a patent until nine months after Wiegand’s patent had issued, and not until over three years after the invention patented by Wiegand was to a large extent in commercial use. Braun knew that Wiegand had applied for a patent and that he had received one; nevertheless he, though he had been seeking earnestly the device of the issue, made no objection whatever at the time. Not only that, but he permitted more than two years to elapse between the date on which he claims to have made a disclosure of the device, and the time of his application for a patent thereon, thus allowing the bar of public use to run against any right that he might otherwise have to a patent. This in itself constitutes strong evidence against him. Sendelbach v. Gillette, 22 App. D. C. 168, 180. All these things, when considered, convince us that, as to all the claims, except No. 6, Braun has not established beyond a reasonable doubt that he is entitled to them.
The decision of the Assistant Commissioner of Patents is affirmed, with respect to all the claims excepting claim 6, and as to it priority of invention is awarded to Braun.
Modified.