Glen Mfg. Inc. v. Fulton Industries, Inc.

301 F. Supp. 649, 159 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 610, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12323
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 22, 1968
DocketCiv. A. 65 C 1352
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 301 F. Supp. 649 (Glen Mfg. Inc. v. Fulton Industries, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Glen Mfg. Inc. v. Fulton Industries, Inc., 301 F. Supp. 649, 159 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 610, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12323 (N.D. Ill. 1968).

Opinion

LYNCH, District Judge.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff, Glen Mfg. Inc., is a Wisconsin corporation having its principal office and place of business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Glen Mfg. Inc. was formerly known as Rhea Manufacturing Company.

2. Defendant, Fulton Industries, Inc., is a Georgia corporation having a place of business and doing business in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

3. Defendant, Bell Industries, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Defendant, Fulton Industries, Inc., and is a Delaware corporation having a place of business and doing business in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Defendant, Bell Industries, Inc., was originally organized in 1963 as Belindco, Inc.

4. There is diversity of citizenship, and the amount in controversy exceeds Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00).

5. On September 22, 1953, United States Letters Patent No. 2,652,874 entitled “Covering for Toilet Flush Tanks” (known generally as toilet tank covers), issued to Plaintiff, Glen Mfg. Inc. (then Rhea Manufacturing Company), upon an application filed by Alice E. Armstrong. The application for the Armstrong patent was originally filed on September 25, [650]*6501948, as Serial No. 51,271. The Patent Office did not grant a patent on this application. Applicant then filed a co-pending continuation application, Serial No. 192,966, on October 30, 1950, which resulted in the issuance of said patent 2,652,874.

6. Plaintiff notified the trade that the Armstrong patent No. 2,652,874 had issued.

7. Some time in 1953 Bell Textile Company began to manufacture and sell tank covers.

8. On May 11, 1954, the Plaintiff filed suit against Spiegel, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Civil Action No. 6295, charging infringement of said Armstrong patent No. 2,652,874, by reason of its sale of toilet tank covers which were purchased from a manufacturer of same.

9. On June 1, 1954, the Plaintiff filed suit against Gimbel Brothers, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Civil Action No. 6317, charging infringement of said Armstrong patent No. 2,652,874, by reason of its sale of toilet tank covers which were purchased from a manufacturer of same.

10. On July 23, 1954, the Plaintiff filed suit against Sears, Roebuck & Co. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Civil Action No. 6373, charging infringement of said Armstrong patent No. 2,652,874.

11. On August 31, 1954, the suit against Spiegel, Inc. Civil Action No. 6295, was dismissed without prejudice.

12. On November 12, 1954, the suit against Gimbel Brothers, Inc., including the counterclaim filed by Gimbel Brothers, Inc., Civil Action No. 6317, was dismissed without prejudice.

13. Since Bell Textile Company was the manufacturer of the tank covers sold by Sears, Roebuck & Co., it had been defending Civil Action No. 6373 on behalf of Sears, and on or about May 19, 1958, on stipulation of the parties, Bell Textile Company was substituted for the Defendant, Sears, Roebuck & Co., said Bell Textile Company having voluntarily filed its appearance, and the Complaint was dismissed with prejudice and without costs as to the Defendant, Sears, Roebuck & Co. On June 16, 1958, the Plaintiff, Glen Mfg. Inc. (then Rhea Manufacturing Company), filed an Amended Complaint, pursuant to the pretrial order entered by the Court on June 9, 1958, which Amended Complaint alleged in part as follows:

“The defendant, BELL TEXTILE CO., has waived venue and submitted to the jurisdiction of this court and has admitted making and selling in the United States, and since the grant of said Letters Patent, covers for toilet flush tanks exemplified by toilet tank covers identified as Exhibits 1, 2 and 3 in a stipulation entered into between the parties hereto on June 9, 1958, each of which said toilet tank covers infringes said Letters Patent.”

Further proceedings were had in this case and on May 11, 1959 a Consent Decree holding the Armstrong patent valid and infringed and enjoining Defendant, Bell Textile Company, from further infringement was entered in said cause.

Defendants in this case were never parties nor did they participate in any way in said Civil Action No. 6373 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

14. Uncertified copies of the pleadings filed by Rhea Manufacturing Company in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Civil Action No. 6373 were offered in evidence by both parties with the same force and effect as if certified.

15. A license agreement was prepared by counsel for the Plaintiff, Glen Mfg. Inc. (then Rhea Manufacturing Company) and on May 6, 1959 said license agreement was transmitted to counsel for the said Bell Textile Company, in New York, New York.

16. Bell Textile Company executed the license agreement as of May 6, 1959, [651]*651in New York, New York, and returned it to Plaintiff.

17. The license agreement was transmitted to patent counsel for Bell Textile Company along with a letter, dated May 6,1959, which stated in part

“ * * * the agreement requires the royalty payment on every toilet tank cover manufactured or sold by Bell its subsidiaries, etc., so that there will be no future argument over whether a particular model is within or without the terms of the claim.”

18. Said executed agreement was accompanied by a letter of May 7, 1959 from Murray Belsky, President of Bell Textile Company, to Rhea Manufacturing Company.

19. Paragraph (4) of the license agreement states as follows:

“(4) Contemporaneously with the execution of this agreement, BELL has paid to Rhea the sum of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00) and BELL further agrees to pay to Rhea a royalty of ten cents (10 cents) on each toilet tank cover made or sold by BELL, by its subsidiaries, and by any corporation controlled by BELL, after the date of this agreement, for the full term thereof.”

20. The letter of clarification, referred to in paragraph 18, sent by Bell Textile Company to Rhea Manufacturing Company on May 7, 1959, and accepted by Rhea on May 12, 1959 contained the following reference to paragraph (4) of the agreement:

“Therefore, by this letter of clarification of the license it is to be understood that only one payment of royalty will be made by Bell, its subsidiaries, or any corporation controlled or related to Bell on any single toilet tank cover sold under the agreement.”

21. Subsequently, on May 10, 1960 and on November 8, 1961, said license agreement was amended to reduce the royalties payable thereunder.

22. The amendment dated November 8, 1961 also added the following to paragraph two (2) of the agreement:

“It is understood that RHEA will not exercise its option set forth in this paragraph unreasonably or without justification.”

23. Bell Textile Company, the licensee named in said license agreement of May 6, 1959, subsequent to said date became Bell Industries, Inc., a Delaware corporation formed in 1962.

24.

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Bluebook (online)
301 F. Supp. 649, 159 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 610, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12323, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glen-mfg-inc-v-fulton-industries-inc-ilnd-1968.