American Steel Foundries v. Wolff Truck Frame Co.

189 F. 601, 1911 U.S. App. LEXIS 5289
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illnois
DecidedApril 25, 1911
DocketNo. 29,185
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 189 F. 601 (American Steel Foundries v. Wolff Truck Frame Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illnois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Steel Foundries v. Wolff Truck Frame Co., 189 F. 601, 1911 U.S. App. LEXIS 5289 (circtndil 1911).

Opinion

KOHLSAAT, Circuit Judge.

This cause is now before the court on final hearing. The bill charges infringement of claims 2, 3, and 6 of patent No. 569,044, granted to J. S. Hanlic on October 6, 3896, for a metallic car truck. The claims in suit read as follows, viz.:

“2. A car-truck, comprising two truck-arches rigidly connected with each other, each truck-arch having a transverse opening, the upper portion of which is contracted, a truck-bolster fitted in the upper portion.of said openings. and springs seated in the openings and below the truck-bolster and respectively bearing against the truck-bolster, substantially as described.
“3. A truck having two truck-arches, each formed with an opening, the upper portion of which is contracted, a truck-bolster having its ends respectively fitted within the upper portions of said openings, and means within the openings and below the truck-bolster by which the truck-bolster is held in place, subsl antially as described.”
“6. A truck having a truck-arch formed with an opening, the central portion of which is enlarged over the terminals, a spring-seat fitted within the contracted lower portion of the opening, springs rested on the spring-seat, and a truck-bolster fitted within the upper contracted portion of the opening and engaged by the springs, substantially as described.”

[602]*602The invention here involved consists in a combination truck having, as an essential element, a transverse opening in each truck-arch or side frame of such a form as enables its use with all kinds of bolsters. This is the only structural novelty here relied on. The new feature of this opening is found in the contracted upper portion, or, as stated in claim 6 in the enlarged central portion thereof, whereby a bolster constructed with column guides, integral or otherwise, upon its opposite sides may be passed through the enlarged portion of the opening in the side frame of a one-piece side frame, and then be raised into and maintained in contact with the sides of the contracted upper portion of the opening in the arch or side frame, so as to resist any substantial backward and forward movement of the bolster, and make a comparatively rigid connection between the two side frames. The advantage claimed for the device is that it provides a simple and durable construction which is not liable to get out of order; one which is readily set up without the aid of skilled labor, and one which may be conveniently inspected and repaired, and which is adapted to use with any bolster. The enlarged opening, ^however, would seem to be of value only in connection with bolsters equipped with column guides or lips. The defenses are lack of patentable novelty, noncompliance with the statute as to what the invention consists in, and want of infringement.

The application upon which the patent in suit was granted was filed January 25, 1896. Of the four original claims asked for, none claimed the contracted upper part or the enlarged central portion. Original claims 1, 2, and 4 were rejected. Original claim 3, which covered principally the means for placing and holding the bolster in the contracted upper part, was allowed. Thereupon Hardie canceled original claims 1, 2, and 4, and added claims 2 to 9, inclusive, among which ap-. pear the claims in suit. Now for the first time appears a claim for the contracted upper end and the enlarged central portion of the opening. No new specification or drawings were filed, nor was the change in the claims sworn to. The drawings disclosed the contracted upper portion, and the enlarged central portion of the opening, but no reference is made thereto in the specification.

[ 1 ] Upon this state of facts defendant moves to have the claims in suit declared invalid for want of verification of the amendment. In Hoe v. Kohler (C. C.) 25 Fed. 271, decided in 1885, Justice tilatchford, sitting in the Circuit Court for the Southern district of New York, held that the mere failure of the file wrapper and contents to disclose whether the application was properly verified or not was not' sufficient to rebut the presumption that the commissioner required and received a proper preliminary oath. To the same effect is Earl v. Rochester S. & E. R. Co. (C. C.) 157 Fed. 241. Defendant cites Steward v. American Lava Company, 215 U. S. 161, 30 Sup. Ct. 46, 54 L. Ed. 139, affirming Lava Company v. Steward, 155 Fed. 731, 84 C. C. A. 157, in support of its contention. In that case the fact of failure to make the required oath was conceded, as appears from the opinion. Here, it is not conceded, nor is there any attempt to prove it. Mr. Justice Holmes, speaking of the oath on page 168 of 215 U. S., on page 50 of 30 Sup. Ct. (54 L. Ed. 139) says:

[603]*603“ * * * The amendment required an oath that Dolan might have found it difficult to take, and for want of it the patent' is void.”

It is evident there could be no presumption as to the oath' under such circumstances. It will be borne in mind that the statute does not in terms require the oath to be in writing or recorded. Walker on Patents (4th Ed.) § 122.

[ 2 ] But it is not deemed necessary to dispose of this contention upon this ground, liar die made no amendment to either the specification or drawings. 'Pile latter, as above stated, disclosed the opening with a contracted upper part and an enlarged central part. The specification makes no mention of it. In Western Electric Company v. Sperry Electric Company et al., 58 Fed. 187 — 196, 7 C. C. A. 164, 173, Judge "Woods, speaking for the Court of Appeals for this circuit, and with reference to an amendment to the application says:

“At first Scribner, it Is clear, believed the up-and-down compensating movement of tin1 armature in the main circuit, Irrespective of the action of the regulating magnet, to be an important feature of his lamp; but before the patent issued, without changing the drawing or modifying the structure of Ms device in the least, he presented an amended specification, in which he repudiated that idea, and described tlie armature in operation as assuming and holding a definite! relation to the magnet. So long as he did not change the structure of his device or invention, he had the right to change the specification. * * *”

This latter expression is quoted approvingly in Michigan Central R. R. Co. v. Consolidated Car Heating Company, 67 Fed. 128, 14 C. C. A. 232, decided by the Court of Appeals for the Sixth circuit. In the same case sections 561 and 635 of Robinson on Patents are cited to the effect that “new matter is that which is not found in the specification, drawings, or model as first filed, and which involves a departure from the original invention” and proceeds to give weight to the drawings. In Hogg et al. v. Emerson, 6 How. 484, 12 L. Ed. 505, the court says the models and drawings are proper to he resorted to for clearer infornation. To the same effect is Brooks et al. v. Fisk et al., 15 How. 212, 14 L. Ed. 665. In Tinker v. Wilber Eureka M. & R. Mfg. Co. (C. C.). 1 Fed. 139, Judge Wlieeler, in the Circuit Court for the Southern district of New York, states that the drawings “could and should be looked at, if necessary, in order to explain an ambiguous or doubtful specification, and to make the invention capable of being understood and used.

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189 F. 601, 1911 U.S. App. LEXIS 5289, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-steel-foundries-v-wolff-truck-frame-co-circtndil-1911.