Hildreth v. Norton

• Decision Date: 11 February 1908
• Docket Number: 150.
• Citation: Hildreth v. Norton, 159 F. 428 (2nd Cir. 1908)
• Parties: HILDRETH v. NORTON.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

159 F. 428

HILDRETH v. NORTON.

No. 150.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

February 11, 1908

H. A. Touilmin (J. H. Dyer and Henry A. Williams, of counsel), for appellant.

F. P. Fish, William A. MacLeod, J. Lewis Stackpole, and William A. Copeland, for appellee.

Before LACOMBE, COXE, and NOYES, Circuit Judges.

LACOMBE, Circuit Judge.

We think that a case for preliminary injunction was not made out. The patent was a very recent one-- issued only a few weeks before the motion was made. It had never been adjudicated. The decision in interference was not the equivalent of adjudication as to patentability and infringement; and sufficient time had not elapsed to present proof of general acquiescence. Validity and infringement are vigorously disputed, and we think both questions should be left for determination at final hearing. Hall Signal Co. v. General Ry. Signal Co., 153 F. 907, 82 C.C.A. 653; Newhall v. McCabe, 125 F. 919, 60 C.C.A. 629.