Atherton Mach. Co. v. Atwood-Morrison Co.
| Decision Date | 19 January 1900 |
| Citation | 99 F. 113 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
| Parties | ATHERTON MACH. CO. v. ATWOOD-MORRISON CO. |
E. Q Keasbey, for complainant.
Frederick P. Fish, for defendant.
The parties to this suit, both complainant and defendant, are corporations organized under the laws of the state of New Jersey, and therefore to be regarded as citizens of that state. The bill sets out that in July, 1896, one Jean Schweiter filed an application in the United States patent office for the grant of letters patent, and that prior to the issuance thereof he assigned his invention and application to one Schrader, who in turn assigned the same to the Schrader Improved Quilling-Machine Company. There is no allegation in the bill that the assignment from Schweiter to Schrader was ever filed with the patent office, though it is set out that the assignment from Schrader to the Schrader Improved Quilling-Machine Company was so filed on May 1, 1897, and that in it there was a recital of the previous assignment. Notwithstanding the filing of such assignment, the patent for Schweiter's invention was on January 4, 1898, issued to him. On August 18, 1898, the Schrader Improved Quilling-Machine Company executed an assignment of said patent to the complainant. The bill charges that the defendant is using the machine described in the patent issued to Schweiter, and, having been by it requested to stop such use, has claimed to be the owner of said patent by virtue of an assignment thereof made by said Schweiter to it. The prayer of the bill is 'that the pretended assignment from Schweiter to the defendant may be declared to be of no effect, and to be subject to the rights and title of the complainant. ' To the bill the defendant demurs. It does not thereby deny the validity of the patent, nor defendant's use of the patented machine. It admits that the complainant has a claim of title to the patent acquired as stated in the bill of complaint, and that the defendant holds a claim of title thereto by an assignment from the patentee, as the bill recites. One of the grounds of demurrer is 'that the said bill of complaint, in so far as it relates to the assignment from said Schweiter to the defendant, and the defendant's rights thereunder, is not 'a suit at law or in equity arising under the patent or copyright laws of the United States,' and therefore this court has no jurisdiction of the case. ' In my...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Atherton Mach. Co. v. Atwood-Morrison Co.
...and GRAY, Circuit Judges. GRAY, Circuit Judge. This is an appeal from the decree of the court below sustaining a demurrer to the bill. 99 F. 113. The bill was for injunction, and accounting for the infringement of a patent. The facts, as stated by the bill, are briefly as follows: The title......