19 F. 735 | U.S. Cir. Ct. | 1884
This is a bill to enjoin an alleged infringement by the defendants of a patent issued to the complainant for an “improve
“The object I have in view is to provide the top of the exhaust pipe of a non-condensing steam-engine with a head which will not only trap off the water of condensation carried up the pipe with the exhaust steam, but also the grease used for lubricating the cylinder, and carried up by the exhaust steam. The invention consists in the peculiar construction of the cap and the combination therewith of the deflectors and conduits, and a hand-hole in one side of the cap, through which access is had to the interior for removing grease and solid matter settling therein.”
The general scope of this invention is, that the steam, carrying with it some spray or water, and the melted grease or oil ejected with the steam, reaches by the exhaust pipe the arrangement shown in the •condensing head; there the steam is deflected, sent around the cold edges of the large surface, where the water, which has already become condensed, is caught upon the deflectors and upon the head of the cap of the condenser, and is condensed, so that the water falls into some of the receptacles for it; it either is condensed and passes into the lower skirt, which is inverted, and runs down and passes into the channels and flows through the outlet pipe, or it is held by the upturned edges, which are shown by the model, so that whatever steam is discharged is mainly dry steam that will not readily condense, and passes into the air without depositing any water or grease ■on the adjacent roofs or buildings.
The defendants deny the infringement of the complainant’s patent, •and also insist that- the complainant made, and sold, and put in public use condensers, in the form now made and used by the defendants, more than two years prior to the complainant’s application for a patent and the issue of his patent. It is insisted that by such pub- ' lie use the complainant has lost the right to cover a device so given to the public by his patent. The proof in the case, which I will not stop to read, is briefly this: Some years ago, in 1870, 1871, and 1872, the complainant commenced the manufacture of these condensing heads. He began by manufacturing a condenser head something like that shown in the proof marked, “Lyman’s Old Head,” which is admitted to be a substantially correct illustration of what the defendant now makes. In 1872 he manufactured several of these, at least four of which he sold and put in public use. They were not experimental heads, in the strict sense of the word, such as .are allowed within certain limits to be made and used by an inventor as experiments. The law permits an inventor to construct a machine which he is engaged in studying upon and developing, and place it in friendly hands for the purpose of testing, it, and ascertaining whether it will perform the functions claimed for it; and if these machines are strictly experiments, made solely with a view to perfect the device, the right of the inventor remains unimpaired; but when an inventor puts his incomplete or experimental device upon ■the market and sells it, as a manufacturer, more than two years be
“(1) The combination of the cap, 13, B, escape pipe, A’, deflectors, O, O’, and. conduits, a, D, said deflectors and conduits provided with curved outer rims or edges, with the exhaust pipe of a non-condensing engine, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
“(2) The combination of the cap, B, B’, escape pipe, A’, deflectors, C, O’, conduits, o, I>, and hand-hole, E, with the exhaust pipe, A, of a non-condensing steam-engine, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. ”
Both these claims, as I construe them, call l'or these deflecting plates with turned edges.
The complainant’s device also shows a “band-hole’’for the purpose of removing the grease, soot, or other solid matter which may collect in the condenser. The defendants, instead of using a “hand-hole” located as shown in the patent, insert a large screw plug near the lower end or apex of the inverted cone, through which plug the drain pipe passes, and by unscrewing and removing this plug, a hook or wire can be inserted and used to clean out the solid matter. This is not a “hand-hole,” as called for by the specifications of complainant’s patent, but is a mere enlargement of the drain or discharge pipe. I find, therefore, that in the general features of the condensers made by defendants, they conform to those which complainant made and gave to the public at least three years before he applied for his patent; and, in construing complainant’s patent, I must hold him bound by the state of the art as he developed it up to 1872 and 1873, and that his patent cannot be allowed to relate back and cover the forms of condensers which he gave to the public more than two years before he applied for his patent. The complainant’s bill must be dismissed for want of equity.
Prior to 1836 our patent laws contained no provision in reference to abandonment or dedication of an invention to the public by uses or sales before the filing of an application for a patent. Tlio supreme court, liowover, decided
The act of 1836 provided that a patent should not be issued for an invention which was, “at the time of his [the inventor’s] application for a patent, in public use or on sale with his consent and allowance.” The act of 1839 changed this so as to allow uses or sales for not “more than two years prior to such application for a patent;” and, so far as regards time, this provision has been frequently re-enacted, and is still in force. It has never been considered, however, that this rule, first announced by the supreme court,
Experiments Encouraged. Patents are only to be granted for useful inventions, ana to prevent their being issued for crude, imperfect, or impracticable ones, the law encourages, not to say requires, an inventor to make proper experiments to fully test and determine the practical utility of his invention before applying for a patent. “He is the first inventor, in the sense of the act, and entitled to a patent for his invention, who has first perfected and adapted the same to use; and until the invention is so perfected and adapted to use it is not patentable. An imperfect and incomplete invention, resting in mere theory, or in intellectual notion, or in uncertain experiments, and not actually reduced to practice, and embodied in some distinct machinery, apparatus, manufacture, or composition of matter, is not, and, in
“The relation borne to the public by inventors, and the obligations they are bound to fulfill in order to secure from the former protection and the right to remuneration, by no means forbid a delay requisite for completing an invention, or for a test of its value or success by a series of sufficient and practical experiments; nor do they forbid a discreet and reasonable forbearance to proclaim the theory or operation of a discovery during its progress to completion, and preceding an application for protection in that discovery. The former may be highly advantageous, as tending to the perfecting the invention ; the latter may be indispensable, in order to prevent a piracy of the rights of the true inventor.”
“It is when speculation has been reduced to practice; when experiment has resulted in discovery, and when that discovery has been perfected by patient and continued experiments; when some new compound, art, manufacture, or machine has been thus produced, which is useful to the public,—that the party making it becomes a public benefactor, and entitled to a patent.”
“When the idea first enters into the mind of the inventor, it is almost necessarily in a crude and imperfect state. His mind will naturally dwell and reflect upon it. It is not until his reflections, investigations, and experiments have reached such a point of maturity that he not only has a clear and definite idea of the principle, and of the mode and manner in which it is to be practically applied to useful purposes, but has reduced his idea to practice and embraced it in some distinct form, that it can be said he has achieved a new and useful invention.”
“The terms ‘being an experiment,’ and ‘ending in experiment,’ are used in contradistinction to the term ‘ being of practical utility.’ Until of practical utility, the public attention is not called to the invention; it does not give to the public that which the public lays hold of as beneficial.”
“If he has been practicing his invention with a view of improving it, and thereby rendering it a greater benefit to the public before taking out a patent, that ought not to prejudice him.”
“Crude and imperfect experiments are not sufficient to confer a right to a patent; but in order to constitute an invention the party must have proceeded so far as to have reduced his idea to practice, and embodied it in some distinct form. ”
“The question of diligence is not an absolute but a relative one, and must be considered in reference to the subject-matter of the experiments. Could the value and practical utility of such an invention be sooner ascertained?”
“It should always be a question submitted to the jury, what was the intent of the delay of the patent, and whether the allowing the invention to be used without a patent should not be considered an abandonment or present of it to the public.
Kinds of Experiments. Of course, the character of an inventor’s tests or experiments must depend largely on the nature of his invention. . “Some inventions are by their very character only capable of being used where they cannot be seen or observed by the public eye. An invention may consist of a lover or spring hidden in the running gear of a watch, or of a ratchet, shaft, or cog-wheel covered from view in the recesses of a machine for spinning or weaving. Nevertheless, if its inventor sells a machine of which his invention forms a part, and allows it to bo used without restriction of any kind, the use is a public one. So, on the other hand, a use necessarily open to public view, i£ made in good faith, solely to test the qualities of the invention and for the purpose of experiment, is not a public use within the meaning of the statute.”
“When the subject of invention is a machine, it may be tested and tried in a building either with or without closed doors. In either case such use is not a public use, within the meaning of the statute, so long as the inventor is engaged in good faith in testing its operation. He .may see cause to alter it and improve it or not. His experiments will reveal the fact whether any and what alterations may be necessary. “ If durability is one of the qualities to be attained, a long period, perhaps years, may be necessary to enable the inventor to discover whether his purpose is accomplished. And though during all that period ho may not find that any changes are necessary, yet he may be justly said to be using his machine only by way of experiment; and no one would say that such a use, pursued with a bona fide intent of testing the qualities of the machine, would be a public use within the meaning of the statute. So long as he does not voluntarily allow others to make it and use it, and so long as it Is not on sale for general use, he keeps the invention under his own control, and does not lose his title to a patent. It would not be necessary, in such a case, that the machine should be put up and used only in the inventor’s own shop or premises. He may have it put up and used in the premises of another, and the use may inure to the benefit of the owner of the establishment; still, if used under the surveillance of the inventor, and for the purpose of enabling him to test the machine, and ascertain whether it will answer the purpose intended, and make such alterations and improvements as experience demonstrates to be necessary, it will still be a mere experimental use, and not a public use within the meaning of the statute.”
“Nor has it-any bearing upon the case that Smith’s experiments were made in public, and that Ms experimental engines were run upon a railroad that was a public highway. Thus only could the invention be tested. There is an
“I consider it too nice a point to say that the future patentee, when he permits a person to test his tool by a short use with a view to interest him in its being patented, is not testing his tool, but only the mind of the borrower. I do not know that an inventor is bound to satisfy his own mind alone by his ■ experiments. The question to be determined is, not only whether the tool will work, but in what modes and with what advantages over old tools; how well it will work, and how cheaply; and I am of opinion that he may, in such' a case as this, test not only its patentability, hut the degree of it, if I may so say; that is, whether it is worth while to patent it. I must not be understood as- speaking of a case in which the tool or thing patented' has been sold more than two years before the application. ”
“The evidence does not show any such public use or sale, with the consent of Dodge, for two years prior to his application, as would work a forfeiture of his patent. There is one ease only of a sale clearly proved before February 14, 1855, and no evidence tending to show more than two or three sales before that time, and all of them accompanied with a notice of an intention to apply for a patent, and all of these during the time when he was experimenting upon and before he had perfected his invention, and attained sufficient perfection in the castings to satisfy him that his invention was practically successful. As in most, if not in all, of these instances the stoves were delivered on trial, to he returned if the invention did not work satisfactorily, they are to be regarded rather in the light of such practical tests as the law permits an inventor to make, than as such public sales as would tend to show abandonment, or mislead the public into a belief that the inventor had made a dedication to the public.”
“If it was merely used occasionally by himself in trying experiments, or if he allowed only a temporary use thereof by a few persons, as an act of personal accommodation or neighborly kindness for a short and limited period, that would not take away his rigid to a patent.”
“He is not allowed to derive any benefit from the sale or the use of his machine without forfeiting his right, except within two years prior to the time he makes his application.”
“ When an inventor puts his incomplete or experimental device upon the market and sells it, more than two years before he applies for Ms patent, lie gives to the public the, device in the condition or stage of development in which he sells it. * * * His patent cannot be allowed to relate back and cover the forms of condensers which he gave to tlie public more than two years before he applied for his patent.”
It will be observed that I have simply collated the authorities, and made but few comments and no criticisms. The language of some of the cases, particularly when they speak of the inventor’s “consent and allowance,” should be understood with reference to the law then in force or governing the decision; but this does not affect their bearing on the general question of experiments. As to this question the following principles maybe considered as fully established: (1) The law permits and encourages proper experiments to test and determine the practical utility of an invention; (2) these experiments must be made with reasonable diligence, considering all the circumstances of the case; (3) they may he made secretly or in public, by uses or sales, and by the inventor personally or through others; (4) they must not be for profit, but for the honest purpose of testing and perfecting the invention; and (5) where improvements are added within the two years, the patent cannot be allowed to relate back and cover.forms previously given to the public. ’ Ephraim .Banning.
Chicago, March, 1884.
Pennock v. Dialogue, 2 Pet. 22.
Mellus v. Silsbee, 4 Mason, 108; 1 Rob. 509.
Treadwell v. Bladen, 4 Wash. 703; 1 Rob. 539.
Shaw v. Cooper, 7 Pet. 292.
Nelson, J., in Wilson v. Rousseau, 4 How. 674. See, also, American Leather Co. v. American Tool Co. 4 Fisher, 294; Dudley v. Mayhew, 3 N. Y. 9.
Pennock v. Dialogue, supra.
Story, J., in Reed v. Cutter, 1 Story, 590, 2 Rob. 90.
2 Fisher, 416.
Gaylor v. Wilder, 10 How. 498; Parkhurst v. Kinsman, 1 Blatchf. 194; Curt. Pat. § 13.
Sickles v. Borden, 3 Blatchf. 535.
Daniel, J., in Kendall v. Winsor, 21 How. 328.
Grier, J., in Roberts v. Reed Torpedo Co. 3 Fisher, 631.
Jones, J., in Matthews v. Skates, 1 Fisher, 606.
Sprague, J., in Howe v. Underwood, 1 Fisher, 166.
Morris v. Huntington, 1 Rob. 455.
Seymour v. Osborne, 11 Wall. 552. As to this general question of experiments,
Pennock v. Dialogue, 2 Pet. 19; Kendall v. Winsor, 21 How. 330.
Nixon, J., in American Nicholson Pavement Co. v. City of Elizabeth, 6 Fisher, 432.
Woodbury, J., in Adams v. Edwards, 1 Fisher, 7, 11. See, also, Smith v. Goodyear D. V. Co. 93 U. S. 491; Sprague v. Adriance, 3 Ban. & A. 124.
Drummond, J., in Cox v. Griggs, 2 Fisher, 177.
Agawam Co. v. Jordan, 7 Wall. 607; Jones v. Sewall, 6 Fisher, 365; Locomotive Engine Safety Truck Co. v. Pennsylvania R. Co. 1 Ban. & A. 483; Miller v. Smith, 5 Fed. Rep. 364; Webster v. New Brunswick Carpet Co. 1 Ban. & A. 91; Kelleher v. Darling, 3 Ban. & A. 448.
Woodruff, J., in Russell & Erwin Manuf'g Co. v. Mallory, 5 Fisher, 641; Benedict, J., in Andrews v. Carman, 2 Ban. & A. 295.
Morris v. Huntington, 1 Paine, 348; 1 Rob. 455; Shaw v. Cooper, 7 Pet. 316.
Birdsall v. McDonald, 1 Ban. & A. 167; Henry v. Francestown Soap-stone Stove Co. 2 Ban. & A. 224; American Leather Co. v. American Tool Co. 4 Fisher, 291; Jones v. Sewall, 6 Fisher, 368; Jennings v. Pierce, 3 Ban. & A. 365; Graham v. McCormick, 11 Fed. Rep. 863; 5 Ban. & A. 249; Emery v. Cavanaugh, 17 Fed. Rep. 213; Hovey v. Henry, 3 West. Law J. 153.
As to effect of delays in the patent office after an application has been filed, see Planing Machine Co. v. Keith, 4 Ban. & A. 100; 101 U. S. 479; Adams v. Jones, 1 Fisher, 527; Bevin v. East Hampton Bell Co. 5 Fisher, 23; McMillin v. Barclay, Id. 200; and for particular cases in which use lias been held not to have been experimental, but sufficient to invalidate patent, see Shaw v. Cooper, 7 Pet. 322; Watson v. Bladen, 1 Rob. 514; Sanders v. Logan, 2 Fisher, 167; Worley v. Tobacco Co. 104 U. S. 310; Sisson v. Gilbert, 5 Fisher, 112; Perkins v. Nashua Card & Glazed Paper Co. 2 Fed. Rep. 451; 5 Ban. & A. 398; Edgerton v. Furst & Bradley Manuf’g Co. 9 Fed. Rep. 450; Clark Pomace-holder Co. v. Ferguson, 17 Fed. Rep. 79; Manning v. Cape Ann Isinglass & Glue Co. 2 Sup. Ct. Rep. 860; Kells v. McKenzie, 9 Fed. Rep. 284.
Woods, J., in Egbert v. Lippmann, 104 U. S. 336. See, also, Elizabeth v. Pavement Co. 97 U. S. 126; Shaw v. Cooper, 7 Pet. 292.
Bradley, J., in Elizabeth v. Pavement Co. 97 U. S. 134.
Strong, J., in Locomotive Engine Safety Truck Co. v. Pennsjdvania R. Co. 1 Ban. & A. 484.
Birdsall v. McDonald, 1 Ban. & A. 167; Henry v. Francestown Soap-stone Stove Co. 2 Ban. & A. 223.
Story, J., in Mellus v. Silsbee, 4 Mason, 108; 1 Rob. 500. See, also, Jones v. Sewall, 6 Fisher, 364.
Washington, J., in Pennock v. Dialogue, 4 Wash. 538; 1 Rob. 472.
Shipman, J., in U. S. Rifle & Cartridge Co. v. Whitney Arms Co. 2 Ban. & A. 501.
Lowell, J., in Sinclair v. Backus, 4 Fed. Rep. 542; 5 Ban. & A. 84.
Shepley, J., in Henry v. Francestown Soap-stone Stove Co. 2 Ban. & A. 224.
Henry v. Francestown Soap-stone Stove Co. 2 Fed. Rep. 80; 5 Ban. & A. 110. See, also, Kells v. McKenzie, 9 Fed. Rep. 284.
Drummond, J., in Graham v. McCormick, 11 Fed. Rep. 862; 5 Bann. & A. 219; and Dyer, J., in Graham v. Geneva Lake Crawford Manuf'g Co. 11 Fed. Rep. 142.
Story, J., in Wyeth v. Stone, 1 Story, 273; 2 Rob. 30.
Blodgett, J., in Lyman v. Maypole, supra.
McKay v. Burr, 6 Pa. 153.
Elizabeth v. Pavement Co. 97 U. S. 135.
Egbert v. Lippmann, 101 U. S. 336; Consolidated Fruit-jar Co. v. Wright, 94 U. S. 94; Manning v. Cape Ann Isinglass & Glue Co. 2 Sup. Ct. Rep. 860; Worley v. Tobacco Co. 104 U.S. 313; Jones v. Barker, 11 Fed. Rep. 597: Clark Pomace-holder Co. v. Ferguson, 17 Fed. Rep. 83.
Nelson, J., in Pitts v. Hall, 2 Blatchf. 235. See, also, Consolidated Fruit-jar Co. v. Wright, 94 U. S. 94; Jones v. Sewall, 6 Fisher, 364.
Shipman, J., in Jennings v. Pieree, 3 Ban. & A. 365.
Elizabeth v. Pavement Co. 97 U. S. 135.
Blodgett, J., in Lyman v. Maypole, supra.
Brown, J., in Northup v. Adams, 2 Ban. & A. 568; Blodgett, J., in Western Electric Manuf'g Co. v. Odell, 18 Fed. Rep. 322.
Nixon, J., in Theberath v. Celluloid Harness Trimming Co. 15 Fed. Rep. 250.