Harrington Manufacturing Co., Inc. v. White, 71-2032.
| Citation | 475 F.2d 788 |
| Decision Date | 07 June 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 71-2032.,71-2032. |
| Parties | HARRINGTON MANUFACTURING CO., INC., Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross Appellee, v. Idas B. WHITE, Defendant-Appellee-Cross Appellant. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Fred C. Philpitt, Washington, D. C., Robert D. Canada, Tallahassee, Fla., Elliott I. Pollock, Washington, D. C., for appellant.
Marion B. Knight, Blountstown, Fla., Harvey B. Jacobson, Jr., Washington, D. C., for appellee.
Before JOHN R. BROWN, Chief Judge, and GOLDBERG and MORGAN, Circuit Judges.
Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied June 7, 1973.
On June 27, 1967, the United States Patent Office issued Patent No. 3,327,745, to Fred W. Meece and Frank B. Dew, both of Plymouth, North Carolina. The patent covered a hydraulically powered "tree cutter device". On October 2, 1968, this lawsuit was filed by Meece and Dew's assignee, the Harrington Manufacturing Company, seeking damages and appropriate injunctive relief from Idas B. White for the latter's alleged infringement of the Meece-Dew patent. In addition to denying infringement, White asserted the invalidity of the Meece-Dew patent as a positive defense. Upon the conclusion of the nonjury trial, the District Judge entered a memorandum order and opinion 323 F. Supp. 1345, upholding the validity of the Meece-Dew patent, but finding no infringement. Both parties appeal.
Our review of the case convinces us that the Court below properly upheld the validity of the Meece-Dew patent. Upon a close examination of his holding with respect to infringement, however, we are compelled to reverse. It all boils down to the question of how to construe three little words in the patent claims—"flexible interconnection means". The trial court applied a common meaning, common sense construction and held that the patent, by expressly contemplating the use of a "flexible interconnection means", did not envision—and hence would not protect— the use of an interconnection means, like a double acting hydraulic cylinder, which could be locked rigidly in place. But this ignores the basic purpose, the prosecution history, and—most importantly—the actual wording of the claims.1 Giving appropriate consideration to these factors, we are convinced that these three little words sufficiently described the inventive concept of the patent, and in turn, that that concept is invaded by Defendant's device. The reading which we give to these three little words thus both sustains the trial court's holding of validity and requires us to reverse his holding of non-infringement.
Modern civilization requires vast quantities of lumber and pulpwood for its progress. Originally man satisfied his need for timber by hacking down trees with crudely fashioned hand tools. As his need and sloth increased man invented the saw to cut through the wood more rapidly and efficiently. Even this innovation did not satiate society's appetite, however, and about twenty-five years ago man began using small gasoline powered chain saws. But even these paragons of technological advance had their problems—among them the fact that tired aching backs refused to wield them at ground level. Thus, by cutting the trees higher than ground level lumberjacks left a considerable amount of wood unused. These uncut stumps also marred the beauty of the landscape and impeded the progress of log removal from the forest.
In 1965 Meece and Dew bent their creative ingenuity towards rectifying these problems. They started by constructing the cutting device. It consisted of a fixed jaw, which would press against the backside of the tree, a blade to do the actual cutting, and a pair of hydraulic cylinders to close the blade. They called the whole assembly a "shear head". (See Figures A and B depicting the shear head in both the open and closed positions.)
Meece and Dew then designed a "C" frame to be used to attach the shear head to the tractor. It consisted principally of two parallel arms which were to be mounted to the sides of the tractor with movable joints. Across the front of these arms they welded a support beam. This beam was horizontal with the ground. In order to be able to elevate the entire shear head another hydraulic cylinder was mounted onto the front of the tractor and attached to the support beam.
The inventors then attached the shear head assembly to the support beam of the "C" assembly by means of several pivotal connections. This would allow the angle of the shear head to be adjusted according to the plane of the ground. This angular adjustment of the shear head was the "basic concept" of the Meece-Dew invention. It was the innovation calculated to solve the problems of stumpage which Meece and Dew had in mind. It was the Meece-Dew shear's "raison d'etre".
Only one thing remained. Meece and Dew needed some element which would stabilize the shear head in the angle of the plane of the ground. They conceived of several possible means to accomplish this end. But when they built their first model, Meece and Dew chose the means which appeared to be the most rugged, the easiest to put in place, the easiest to repair, and the least expensive, i. e. they used a chain, which was attached at one end to the shear head and at the other to a supporting post welded perpendicular to the beam. (See Figure C.)2 In describing the various elements which could perform this task the patentees subsequently applied the fated nomenclature "flexible interconnection means".
Meece and Dew demonstrated their tree shear to several interested parties in December 1965. By February 1966, the Plaintiff Harrington Manufacturing Company had acquired exclusive rights to the invention in exchange for an agreement to prosecute the patent application in Meece and Dew's behalf and make continuing royalty payments to them. By May 1966, Harrington was manufacturing the Meece-Dew shear and distributing it to its customers.
Meanwhile (that is in May, 1966) in Blountstown, Florida, the defendant Idas B. White was contacted by several unnamed individuals who requested that he build hydraulically operated tree shears for them. The resultant shear was field tested by White on July 30, 1966. The White shear was substantially identical to the Meece-Dew design, including the adjustable cutting head. Significantly, on first testing his shear White used a chain linkage support element. On finding this unsatisfactory he resorted to hydraulic cylinders.
As assignee of the Meece-Dew patent rights Harrington was more than normally curious when he heard that someone in Blountstown, Florida, was building a tree shear similar to the Meece-Dew model which his company was then marketing. In August 1966, Joseph J. Harrington, Plaintiff's president, stopped to meet with White en route to Panama City, Florida, where the Harrington version of the Meece-Dew shear had been displayed since June 1966. The trial court found that Harrington made a suggestion that White might manufacture hydraulic cylinders for use on the Meece-Dew shear head (see Figures A and B, supra), that both parties voiced their intentions to seek patents, that Harrington had the opportunity to observe a photograph of the White shear, and ultimately that Harrington offered to purchase White's patent rights.3 Negotiations stalled and this suit followed. As first patentee of this design, Harrington has the paramount right to manufacture the Meece-Dew shear. Southern Implement Manufacturing Co. v. McLemore, 5 Cir., 1965, 350 F.2d 244, 248. Unless White can prove that the Meece-Dew patent was invalid, Harrington is entitled to relief if he proves that White's shear infringed the patent.
Patents are a favored exception to the antitrust policies of the United States. While many patent advocates argue passionately that since they promote disclosure to society rather than exclusion from society that the term "monopoly" should not be applied patents, the better-reasoned view is that they are monopolies in the sense that they are governmentally protected rights to exclude others from the manufacture or sale of the patented article. Although the seventeen year duration is a built-in safeguard against extended abuse of the patent concession, society demands additional restrictions. One such restriction is the availability of judicial review of the patent. Thus, the Supreme Court of the United States has held:
There has been a tendency among the lower federal courts in infringement suits to dispose of them where possible on the ground of noninfringement without going into the question of validity of the patent. It has come to be recognized, however, that of the two questions, validity has the greater public importance, and the District Court in this case followed what will usually be the better practice by inquiring fully into the validity of this patent.
Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 1944, 325 U.S. 327, 330, 65 S.Ct. 1143, 1145, 89 L.Ed. 1644, 1646 (citations omitted). See also Beckman Instruments, Inc. v. Chemtronics, Inc., 5 Cir., 1970, 428 F.2d 555, 557; Sterner Lighting Inc. v. Allied Electrical Supply, Inc., 5 Cir., 1970, 431 F.2d 539. Finding the Meece-Dew tree shear patent to be one involving deep public interest, we carefully review the trial court's decision upholding the validity of the patent.
We start from the proposition that a lawfully issued patent is presumed to be valid. 35 U.S.C.A. § 282; Railex Corp. v. Speed Check Co., 5 Cir., 1972, 457 F.2d 1040, 1043; Beckman Instruments, supra at 560 or 428 F.2d; Foster Cathead Co. v. Hasha, 5 Cir., 1967, 382 F.2d 761, 764. Thus, the "burden of establishing invalidity of a patent shall rest on a party asserting it." 35 U.S.C.A. § 282.
The presumption of patent validity is rebuttable. 35 U.S.C. § 282; Radio Corp....
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