Grant Paper Box Co. v. Russell Box Co.

106 F. Supp. 616, 94 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 96, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4060
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJuly 11, 1952
DocketCiv. A. No. 1128
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 106 F. Supp. 616 (Grant Paper Box Co. v. Russell Box Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grant Paper Box Co. v. Russell Box Co., 106 F. Supp. 616, 94 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 96, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4060 (D. Mass. 1952).

Opinion

WYZANSKI, District Judge.

This case comes before me upon the basis of the plaintiff’s objections filed June 9, 1952, and upon the basis of the defendant’s objections filed June 6, 1952, to the Master’s report filed May 29, 1952.

The case was originally decided by Judge Healey in this Court and after an intermediate opinion, 1 Cir., 151 F.2d 886, the judgment entered by Judge. Healey was reversed by the Circuit Court of Appeals pursuant to an opinion to be found in 1 Cir., 154 F.2d 729. On October 20, 1948, a decree was entered in this Court after mandate from the Circuit Court of Appeals. Thereafter this Court appointed and provided'for the compensation of a Master, Robert L. Thompson, Esq. He held hearings from Aipril 21, 1950 to August 29, 1951; received briefs from the parties up to September 24, 1951; and, as already indicated, filed his report in this Court six weeks ago. A hearing on the objections filed by both parties was held by this Court on July 8,. 1952.

At the outset it is appropriate for this Court to express its appreciation of the generally excellent Master’s report which admirably states the facts and the issues of law raised thereby.

It will be most convenient to deal first with the defendant’s objections, all of which are hereby overruled.

1. 'In objection No. 1 defendant objects to the Master’s finding that a fair deduction for waste is 2.6%. I am'of the view that the Master’s figure of 2.6% is soundly based on the available evidence.

2. In objection No. 2 defendant asserts that the computation of interest is incorrect because no deduction is made for the value of other patents and the trademark “Tredonia”. The Master was warranted in finding (and I agree with him in his conclusion) that no deduction should be made for the value of other patents or the trade-mark. If defendant’s point is that an award of compound interest cannot be justified under the circumstances of this case, the answer is that the allowance of interest is made discretionary by U.S.C.A. Title 35, § 70 and by the circumstances of this case. Collins v. Hupp Motor Car Corp., 6 Cir., 22 F.2d 27, 32. Indeed, since the Master could have calculated the royalty on a. monthly rather than an annual basis, [618]*618it would appear that the calculation of interest annually on a compound basis is more favorable than the defendant might have reasonably anticipated.

3. In objection No. 3 defendant pointed out that he did not have the benefit of a license under other patents and therefore should have a preferred rate of royalty. The Master was justified in ignoring the fact that other licensees secured licenses of other patents. Those other license arrangements provided that the royalty rate should be the same whether one or all of the patents were used; there is no showing that any patent other than the one now in litigation was ever used by any of those licensees; and there is no- showing that other patents were necessary in order to use this patent. Compare Parker Rust Proof Co. v. Ford Motor Co., D.C.E.D. Mich. 1928, 23 F.2d 502, 505.

4. In objection No. 4 defendant objects to the finding of the Master that the trademark “Tredonia” was of no- value to the licensees. I am satisfied that the Master was warranted in his conclusion.

5. In objection No. 5 defendant objects to the finding of the Master that price fixing is not in issue at this stage of the case. Taking into account the course of this litigation in this Court and in the appellate courts and the number of years that have elapsed since the defense of unclean hands was first asserted and the failure to offer at an earlier date evidence on this topic, I concur in the Master’s ruling that he should not have taken evidence on points raised with respect to price fixing or unclean hands. The same reasons which lead me to concur with the Master’s finding lead me to decline to take evidence myself on these issues at this stage of the case.

6. In objection No-. 6 defendant objects to the Master’s finding that there was no credible evidence that the plaintiff led the defendant to believe that the defendant was not infringing the patent by the use of the ordinary commercial wax. I concur with the Master’s finding and overrule the objection.

7. In objection No. 7 defendant objects to the Master’s finding that Judge Healey misconstrued the file wrapper. Defendant •further objects to the Master’s failure to find that plaintiff lost this or a parallel case originally before this Court, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in its first opinion) and before the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. In overruling this obj ection it is enough to note that,' in their final views, two courts of appeals have held that under the circumstances of this case there is no file wrapper estoppel. Grant Paper Box Co. v. Russell Box Co., 1 Cir., 154 F.2d 729; Sutherland Paper Co. v. Grant, 3rd Cir., 183 F.2d 926.

8. In objection No. 8 defendant objects to the Master’s finding that the defendant was careless in the contraction of the patent. I overrule this objection and heartily concur in the statement in the Master’s report that the defendant’s attitude “was due to carelessness in ascertaining the facts, carelessness in construing claim 3 or a combination of the two.” [Page 18]

Turning now to the plaintiff’s objections to the Master’s report, I concur in so much of the first, second, third and fourth objection as attack the Master’s conclusion that $3 per ton is an established royalty for the period from February 18, 1936 to July 1, 1940.

In the first .part of this period, that is, from the date of issue of the patent to 1939, Grant' Paper Box Company, the plaintiff, was competing with Russell and was paying the inventor a royalty of $8.30 per ton with a minimum yearly payment of $5,000. In this period Grant issued no licenses. Hence, for this period the calculation of damages to be paid by Russell should be a “reasonable royalty” and should be based upon $8.30 a ton with a minimum yearly payment of $5,000.

During the period from January 1, 1939 to July 1940 there were only two- licenses issued by Grant. Those licenses issued after January 1, 1939 were so specialized in character as not to constitute an ’ “established royalty.” Cf. Rude v. Westcott, 130 U.S. 152, 165, 9 S.Ct. 463, 32 L.Ed. 888. However, the royalties fixed in those licenses (which were $5 for each ton of usable paper board laminated by t'he defendant with a reasonable yearly payment [619]*619of $5,000)' were -reasonable and should be used in calculating recoverable damages in this case.

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Bluebook (online)
106 F. Supp. 616, 94 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 96, 1952 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grant-paper-box-co-v-russell-box-co-mad-1952.