Atlantio Works v. Brady Brady v. Atlantio Works

• Decision Date: 05 March 1883
• Citation: Atlantio Works v. Brady Brady v. Atlantio Works, 107 U.S. 192, 2 S.Ct. 225, 27 L.Ed. 438 (1883)
• Parties: ATLANTIO WORKS v. BRADY. BRADY v. ATLANTIO WORKS
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

107 U.S. 192

2 S.Ct. 225

27 L.Ed. 438

ATLANTIO WORKS v. BRADY.

BRADY

v. ATLANTIO WORKS.

March 5, 1883.

Asst. Atty. Gen. Maury, for Atlantic Works.

Albert A. Abbott, for Brady.

BRADLEY, J.

This case arises upon a bill in equity filed by Edwin L. Brady against the Atlantic Works, a corporation of Massachusetts, having workshops and a place of business in Boston, praying for an account of profits for building a dredge-boat in violation of certain letters patent granted to the complainant, bearing date December 17, 1867, and for an injunction to restrain the defendants from making, using, or selling any dredge-boat in violation of said letters patent. The bill was filed on the ninth of April, 1868, and had annexed thereto a copy of the patent alleged to be infringed. The following are the material parts of the specification:

'The excavator consists of a strong boat, propelled by one or two propellers placed in the stern of the boat. I prefer two propellers as affording greater power and rendering the boat more manageable in steering in crooked channels. This propeller is driven in the ordinary manner by steam-engines of ordinary construction. Near the bow of the boat I place another steam-engine, driving what I call the 'mud-fan,' which projects from and in front of the bow of the boat. This is formed by a set of revolving blades shown at A, turned, like the propellers, by a shaft passing through a stuffing-box, D. The blades are shaped somewhat like those of a propeller, but they are sharper on their fronts and less inclined on their faces. These blades should extend, say, two feet below the bottom of the boat, and their object is by their rapid revolution to displace the sane and mud on the bottom, and, stirring them up, to mix them with the water so that they may be carried off by the current.

'The motion of the 'mud-fan' tends to draw forward the boat, assisting the propellers.

'All the engines may be driven by one set of boilers, F, placed amid-ships. In order that the 'mud-fan' may be brought in contact with the bottom, I construct the boat with a series of water-tight compartments, E, placed in the bow and stern, and on each side of the center, amid-ships, into which the water may be permitted to flow through pipes so as to sink the vessel to the required depth; the compartments being so placed and proportioned that the vessel shall sink with an even keel, by which the effective action of the 'mudfan,' the propellers, and the steering apparatus is preserved, the boat being manageable at any depth. A large pump, B, driven by the engine, is connected by pipes with all the compartments, so that the water may be pumped out when necessary to raise the boat.

'I am aware that boats have been constructed with compartments to be filled with water, to sink the dredging mechanism to the bottom, by loading the end of the boat in which such mechanism is placed; but this construction is subject to the disadvantage of requiring more complicated machinery for dredging, in order that it may be accommodated to the inclination of the boat, and to the further disadvantage that the boats thus inclined are comparatively unmanageable.

'What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure my letters patent, is: (1) A dredging-boat, constructed with a series of water-tight compartments, so proportioned and arranged that, as they are filled with water, the boat shall preserve an even keel, and the dredging mechanism be brought into action without any adjusting devices, substantially as set forth. (2) The combination of the 'mud-fan' attached to a rigid shaft, and a boat containing a series of water-tight compartments, E, so adjusted as to cause the boat to settle on an even keel as the compartments are filled with water, and a pump, B, for exhausting the water from all the compartments, substantially as set forth.'

The defendants, in their answer, denied the validity of the patent, and denied infringement of any valid patent of the complainant. They then stated the circumstances under which they came to construct the dredge-boat complained of, namely: That in October, 1867, the government of the United States advertised for proposals for building a dredge-boat for the mouth of the Mississippi river, according to certain plans and specifications; that the defendants, being manufacturers and builders of marine engines and steam-boats, examined the plans and specifications, and made proposals for building the boat according to the same, which were accepted, and they at once began the construction of the boat and completed it under the inspection and supervision of a United States officer, in conformity with the stipulations, and the boat went in charge of said officer to the mouth of the Mississippi river; that the said plans and specifications were made and furnished by Gen. McAlester, of the engineer corps of the United States, for the use of the government, and were the result of his own study, observations, and experience, and that, so far as they were original, he was the author of them. They further alleged by their answer (as amended) as follows:

'That the plans and specifications by which the said dredge-boat was constructed were not, and the said dredge-boat itself was not, a new invention or novel and original; but the same, and the principle of said dredge-boat, had been substantially known and publicly used before, to-wit, at New Orleans, on the mouth of the Mississippi river, in the year 1859, in the steam dredge-boat Enoch Train, by Charles H. Hyde, by Thomas G. Mackie, and William A. Hyde, copartners, under the firm of Hyde & Mackie, and by Henry Wright, and had also been used and applied in the construction of light-draught monitors, so called, built by the United States government during the late rebellion and long prior to the alleged patent or invention of the said Brady, and the dates of his patent or caveat, and one of which said light-draught monitors was built at the works of these defendants.'

The answer further stated that in 1866 and 1867, prior to the date of Brady's alleged invention, he was acting as agent for one Tyler, in carrying out a contract with the government for the improvement of the mouth of the Mississippi river; that Gen. McAlester was then stationed at New Orleans to supervise and inspect, on behalf of the United States, the execution of the contract; that Brady was fitting and preparing a steam-boat for the purpose on a plan entirely different from that of his alleged invention; that McAlester then detailed and described to him a plan for a dredge-boat identical with that of the boat constructed by the defendants, which plan McAlester communicated to the board of engineers of the army before the date of the alleged invention by Brady; that Brady's boat was a failure, and the contract was annulled; that then Brady made drawings for a boat on the plan described to him by McAlester, and afterwards claimed to be the inventor of it, and made application for his patent, and obtained the same after the defendants had commenced work on the boat complained of.

Evidence was taken, and on a hearing before Mr. Justice CLIFFORD, in September, 1876, a decree was made sustaining the patent, declaring that the defendants had infringed the same, and referring it to a master to take an account of the profits received by the defendants from the infringement. The master reported the sum of $6,604.82. Both parties excepted, but their exceptions were overruled, and a final decree, in accordance with the report, was rendered October 9, 1878, with costs. Both parties have appealed.

The most important question, and first to be considered, is the validity of the patent.

It is obvious, from reading the specification, that the alleged invention consists mainly in attaching a screw (which the patentee calls a mud-fan) to the forward end of a propeller dredge-boat, provided with tanks for settling her in the water. It is operated by sinking the boat until the screw comes in contact with the mud or sand, which, by the revolution of the screw, is thrown up and mingled with the current. The use of a series of tanks for the purpose of keeping the vessel level while she settles is an old contrivance long used in dry-docks, and is shown by the evidence to have been used in many light-draught monitors during the late war. The defendants themselves built one of these vessels—the Casco. Mr. Edwards, the president of the Atlantic Works, in his testimony says:

'The Casco was built double, leaving a water-space on each side nearly the entire length of the vessel, with an arrangement of valves for flooding the compartments at pleasure, for the purpose of sinking the vessel to the desired draught of water, and with powerful steam-pumps to pump the water out for the purpose of raising it in the water. The compartment on the side was divided into several, and one or all of them could be filed as desired. The object was to enable them to put her on an even keel, or to raise or depress one end at pleasure.'

The employment of their screws by propeller ships, driven stern foremost, for the removal of sand and mud accumulated at the mouths of the Mississippi, had frequently occurred years before the patentee's invention is alleged to have been made. Several French steamers, one of which was named the Francis Arago, had used this method there prior to the year 1859. In that year the Enoch Train, a double propeller,—that is, having two screws at her stern,—was used in the same way by certain contractors under the government for dredging the mouth of the Mississippi. Mr. Hyde, one of the contractors and owners, in his testimony describes her construction and operation as follows:

'She was a propeller of burden between three and four hundred tons, with two propeller screws at her stern, about nine feet in diameter each; the cylinders were 36 inches in diameter, and 34 inches stroke; she had one doctor engine; was...