Greene Process Metal Co. v. Washington Iron Works

• Decision Date: 27 July 1936
• Docket Number: No. 7645.,7645.
• Citation: 84 F.2d 892
• Parties: GREENE PROCESS METAL CO. v. WASHINGTON IRON WORKS.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

84 F.2d 892 (1936)

GREENE PROCESS METAL CO. v. WASHINGTON IRON WORKS.

No. 7645.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

July 27, 1936.

Ben C. Grosscup, of Seattle, Wash. (William H. Davis and Merton W. Sage, both of New York City, of counsel), for appellant.

Battle, Hulbert, Helsell & Bettens, of Seattle, Wash. (Merrell E. Clark, of New York City, of counsel), for appellee.

Before WILBUR, DENMAN, and MATHEWS, Circuit Judges.

MATHEWS, Circuit Judge.

Appellant's bill of complaint charged appellee with infringing a patent owned by appellant, and prayed for an injunction restraining further infringement thereof and for an accounting of profits and damages. Appellee's answer pleaded invalidity of the patent and denied the alleged infringement. On final hearing, the District Court held the patent invalid for lack of invention and for lack of novelty and, accordingly, entered a decree dismissing the bill. This appeal is from that decree.

The patent in question was applied for by Albert E. Greene on January 2, 1909. Greene's application was pending in the Patent Office for a period of sixteen years, during which it was amended fourteen times. This much-amended application was finally granted, and the patent here in question, No. 1,532,052, was issued to appellant, as Greene's assignee, on March 31, 1925. It is for an alleged improvement in the treatment of iron or steel in electric furnaces. The specification states:

"* * * The invention has for its object the provision of an improved electric furnace process for treating iron or steel in the course of which impurities, such as sulfur, phosphorous and oxygen, are removed therefrom, principally as a slag, either singly or together, and in such manner as to leave the iron or steel in a purified and deoxidized condition.

"In the making or refining of steel in electric furnaces prior to this invention, the usual method has been to make the lining or hearth of the furnace of basic material, such as burnt magnesite or dolomite, the roof being of silica brick. The slag used has been highly basic,¹ containing — say about 15 percent. of silica, and requiring a considerable addition — say 30 percent. of fluorspar to act as a flux. * * * I have found, however, that by using a slag containing a comparatively high percentage of silica, the sulfur content of the metal may be reduced to practically the same extent as before and considerable economies are effected in the operating of the furnace and also an improvement secured in the quality of the steel produced.

"My invention, accordingly, involves treating iron or steel in a basic electric furnace by applying thereto a slag comprising lime and silica approximately in such proportions as to form a neutral mixture, that is, a mixture that is neither strongly acid nor strongly basic,² and maintaining the metal and slag molten under reducing conditions. The actual percentage of silica in the slag will vary considerably for different materials and circumstances, but will generally be between 25 and 35 per cent. of the total weight of the slag. * * *

"An important feature of the present invention resides in the modification of the heretofore customary highly basic slag by the addition of a relatively high percentage of silica, thereby giving the slag a considerably lower melting point, rendering it more fluid and facilitating its refining action. This feature results in a very material saving in electrical energy over what would be required to melt a straight lime or highly basic slag. * * *

"The process of the invention is of particular advantage in the manufacture of soft or low carbon steel. The greater or less quantity of nascent silicon³ which enters the bath⁴ serves to purify it and in a way to make up in purifying effect for the lack of carbon in the bath. The silica in the slag may be so proportioned that the quantity of nascent silicon which enters the bath shall be only sufficient to have a purifying effect and shall not be sufficient to leave any appreciable percentage of silicon in the finished product."

This patent contains ten claims, all of which are in suit. With the exceptions hereafter noted, the ten claims are identical. Claim 6 reads: "The method of treating iron or steel which consists in a applying thereto a slag comprising lime and silica and maintaining the metal and slag molten on a basic hearth in an electric furnace b under reducing conditions, c the quantity of silica being about 25 to 35 per cent. of the total weight of the slag."

The introductory words of claims 4 and 5 are: "In the making of soft or low carbon steel the method which consists in applying to the bath a slag comprising * * *."

Element a of claim 6 appears in all the claims.

In claims 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, element b of claim 6 is omitted. In claims 8 and 10, element b reads: "* * * while subjected to the action of a reducing agent."

In claims 2 and 7, element c reads: "* * * the lime and silica being approximately in such proportions as to form a neutral mixture, that is, a mixture which is neither strongly acid nor strongly...