Vermont Structural Slate Co. v. Tatko Bros. Slate Co.

• Decision Date: 16 September 1955
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 5587.
• Citation: 134 F. Supp. 4
• Parties: VERMONT STRUCTURAL SLATE CO., Inc., Plaintiff, v. TATKO BROTHERS SLATE CO., Inc., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

134 F. Supp. 4

VERMONT STRUCTURAL SLATE CO., Inc., Plaintiff, v. TATKO BROTHERS SLATE CO., Inc., Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 5587.

United States District Court N. D. New York.

September 16, 1955.

Whalen, McNamee, Creble & Nichols, Albany, N. Y., for plaintiff, David S. Williams, Albany, N. Y., and John C. Blair, Stamford, Conn., of counsel.

James F. Sennett, Granville, N. Y., for defendant, Maxwell E. Sparrow, New York City, of counsel.

FOLEY, District Judge.

The motion is one for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. The suit upon which the motion is based seeks judgment declaring that a certain patent No. 2,693,926, held by John Tatko as inventor, and issued to the defendant as his assignee, is invalid. The rareness of such application for summary judgment in a patent case, together with the continued warnings of the Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, that even in the ordinary lawsuit summary disposition should only be exercised with great care, constitutes a combination that has made my approach one of extreme consideration and caution. See Doehler Metal Furniture Co., Inc., v. United States, 2 Cir., 149 F. 2d 130, 135; Arnstein v. Porter, 2 Cir., 154 F.2d 464, also interesting dissent by Judge Clark at page 475; Bozant v. Bank of New York, 2 Cir., 156 F.2d 787, 790; Colby v. Klune, 2 Cir., 178 F.2d 872; Federal Glass Co. v. Loshin, 2 Cir., 217 F.2d 936, 937; Subin v. Goldsmith, 2 Cir., 224 F.2d 753. Other Circuit Courts of Appeal have upheld summary judgment in patent cases for lack of invention. Parkin-Theatres, Inc., v. Perkins, 9 Cir., 190 F.2d 137; Davison Chemical Corporation v. Joliet Chemicals, Inc., 7 Cir., 179 F.2d 793, and despite the noted aversion of the Second Circuit to the summary judgment procedure, it has been indicated that this procedure may be justified under proper circumstances even in a patent suit. Bridgeport Brass Co. v. Bostwick Laboratories, Inc., 2 Cir., 181 F.2d 315, 316, 319. I give this review to indicate that I am cognizant of the principle and policy of the law in this respect established by the higher authority which bonds me, and which I shall always respect and follow to the best of my understanding. My conclusion in this motion may seem to intrude "where angels fear to tread", but it is based solely upon my best judgment and is not formulated to any extent as a time-saving device.

The patent involved in this motion and lawsuit is one of unbelievable simplicity. This statement finds the most support in the fact that I was able to comprehend with some ease the nature, purpose and function of its design from a reading of the patent, the descriptions in the pleadings and affidavits, an inspection of the photographs and a view of the physical exhibits that were demonstrated by the defendant upon the argument of the motion. The wording of the patent has the usual detail in its body, and the magical setting of words in its three claims, but any complexity vanishes when the object comes into focus.

The patent under challenge covers a pallet or platform usually wooden in character, particularly for the holding, transportation and/or storage of slate slabs that are fashioned from the slate rock taken from a quarry. The Tatko pallet, in the usual rectangular shape, consists of two spaced horizontal platforms of wooden boards. The top platform consists of boards of varying lengths, and this arrangement, when coupled with pairs of transverse stringers (apparently 2 by 4's) in the open space between the platforms at each end, creates end pockets in the pallet. It is these end pockets into which stone or slate end pieces may be inserted vertically to support and hold slate or stone stacked vertically on the pallet itself, which the defendant stresses as inventive contribution. Good photographs of the Tatko pallet with the slate slabs stacked vertically and supported by the end piece slabs in the pockets are shown in defendant's Exhibits 8, 9 and 10, attached to the defendant's answering affidavits in this motion. A photograph, defendant's Exhibit 11, now received in evidence, shows very clearly the old pallets used in the slate business with the slabs loaded horizontally without any support from vertical end pieces.

There seems to be little dispute that this new arrangement of boards and stringers brought an advancement in utility, safety and economy to the slate industry. It allows a more secure handling of the slate and stone when it is being lifted and transported. It may be that less labor is needed in such efforts and the vertical piling permits stacking of the slabs as to color on the pallets which is desirable to purchasers. All these endorsements are set forth in the answering affidavits...