Densmore v. Scofield
| Decision Date | 01 October 1880 |
| Citation | 102 U.S. 375,26 L.Ed. 214 |
| Parties | DENSMORE v. SCOFIELD |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
APPEAL from the Circuit Court of the United States for the Northern District of Ohio.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
Mr. J. C. Clayton and Mr. A. Q. Keasbey for the appellants.
Mr. George Willey, contra.
This is an appeal from a decree dismissing the complainant's bill, brought upon a reissued patent issued to James Densmore and Amos Densmore May 29, 1866. The summation and claims, as set forth in the reissue, are as follows:—— 'The nature of our invention consists in combining two large, light, tight, firm, stout tanks with an ordinary railway car, making the tank practically a part of the car, so as to carry the desired substance in bulk in the car itself, or in a permanent fixture or part thereof, instead of in barrels, casks, hogsheads, tierces, or other movable vessels or packages, as is now universally done on railway cars, and thereby save carrying the weight of the barrels, casks, hogsheads, tierces, or other movable vessels or packages.
'What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by letters-patent, are,——
'First, The two tanks B, B (or their equivalent), when constructed and operating in combination with an ordinary railway car, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
'Second, The two tanks B, B (or their equivalent), when set directly (or nearly so) over the car trucks, and when constructed and operating in combination with an ordinary railway car, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
'Third, The frames C, C, C, C, the bolts 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the cleats H, H, H, H, when constructed and operating in combination with tanks B, B, the man-holes and manheads D, D, and the faucets E, E, and the runway G, when constructed and arranged in combination with tanks B, B, and an ordinary railway car, substantially as and for the purposes set forth and described.'
The bill alleges infringement, and prays for an account of profits and a decree for a perpetual injunction, and for such further relief as may be deemed proper.
Among other defences, the answer denies infringement, and sets up that the reissued patent is too broad, and is, therefore, void.
We pass by these topics, because we deem it proper to dispose of the case upon a more radical and comprehensive objection.
A witness, called by the appellees, testified that he was largely engaged in shipping petroleum, from 1861 to 1872. His language is:——
'I attach two leaves of my shipping-book, showing some shipments in casks and return casks in 1863; they are correct.
Another witness testifies ...
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