137 U.S. 445 (1890), New York Belting & Packing Co. v. New Jersey Car-spring & Rubber Co.
| Citation: | 137 U.S. 445, 11 S.Ct. 193, 34 L.Ed. 741 |
| Party Name: | NEW YORK BELTING & PACKING CO. v. NEW JERSEY CAR-SPRING & RUBBER CO. |
| Case Date: | December 22, 1890 |
| Court: | United States Supreme Court |
Page 445
Appeal from the circuit court of the United States for the southern district of New York.
COUNSEL
[11 S.Ct. 194] B. F. Lee and W. H. L. Lee, for appellant.
A. V. Briesen, for appellee.
OPINION
BRADLEY, J.
This is a suit in equity brought upon a patent for a design by the New York Belting & Packing Company, assignee of
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George Woffenden, against the New Jersey Car-Spring & Rubber Company. The bill was dismissed upon demurrer, and the case is here on appeal from that decree. The ground for dismissing the bill, as stated by the circuit judge in his opinion, was that the subject-matter of the patent was not patentable, (30 F. 785,) and this is the question which has been discussed on the appeal. The invention claimed in the patent is a new and original design for rubber mats, of which the subjoined plate is a diagram:
(Image Omitted)
Referring to the diagram, the specification describes the invention as follows: 'In accordance with this design the mat gives under the light different effects according to the relative position of the person looking at it. If the person changes his position continuously the effects are kaleidoscopic in character. In
Page 447
some cases moire effects, like those ofmoire or watered silk, but generally mosaic effects, are produced. Stereoscopic effects also, or the appearance of a solid body or geometric figure, may, at times, be given to the mat, and, under proper conditions, an appearance of a depression may be presented. The design consists in parallel lines of corrugations, depressions, or ridges, arranged to produce the effects as above indicated. The drawing represents a mat embodying this design. A is a mat, which is, as represented, square, although it might be oblong, or other desired shape. It is divided into a number of sections, a, b, c, d, the corrugations or depressions and ridges in those represented by the same letter being parallel. Thus in the center and outer border formed by the section a, b, the corrugations extend around the mat parallel with its outer edge and with each other. At the points where each depression crosses the diagonals drawn from corner to corner of the mat through the center...
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