Lionne Co. v. Cushman-Hollis Co.

7 F.2d 83, 1925 U.S. App. LEXIS 3493
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedAugust 6, 1925
DocketNo. 1834
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 7 F.2d 83 (Lionne Co. v. Cushman-Hollis Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lionne Co. v. Cushman-Hollis Co., 7 F.2d 83, 1925 U.S. App. LEXIS 3493 (1st Cir. 1925).

Opinion

ANDERSON, Circuit Judge.

In this patent infringement ease, the court below in a careful and learned opinion (299 F. 983) held the patent void for lack of invention, and also because of prior use and knowledge by others. The patent, No. 1,339,462, was applied for on July 5,1918, and issued May 11, 1920. It relates to a method of protecting white shoes from soiling during the process of manufacture. Two claims are in suit.

Claim 12 is a process claim and is as follows:

“Claim 12. The method of temporarily protecting the surface of an article, which consists in applying a thick viscous fluid composition in a finely divided state to the surface to be protected to produce thereon a layer of dense formation, drying said layer and subsequently removing said layer in fragments.”

This is tho gist of the alleged invention; if it fails, so does claim 1, for the manufacture.

Claim 1 purports to cover the article- — a shoe protected during manufacture by this process — and is as follows:

“Claim. 1. A shoe having protecting means for its surface consisting of a layer of material formed on the article of substantially uniform thickness and great density and composed of finely divided particles forcibly compacted together and to the surface, and adhesively secured together and to tho surface, and conforming to all irregularities in the surface, said layer being strong and durable to withstand manipulation, and friable to admit of its being removed in fragments by mechanical means.”

The case was elaborately tried below and has been argued and briefed before this court with great ability. In spite of the ingenuity of appellant’s counsel, we uro driven to the same result reached by the learned District Judge that the patent is void for lack of invention.

Shortly stated, the alleged invention consists in applying by air brush to white shoes a liquid composition consisting of clay, gum., oil, and water, known in the trade as “white dope.” This coating will dry on the shoe, but will remain flexible enough so that the shoe [84]*84may be handled -during the necessary manufacturing processes, and it then becomes friable, so as to be removable by a rotary brush. Before Lionne, as the record conclusively shows, manufacturers had two methods of protecting their white shoes during the processes of manufacture. The first was by covering the shoe with cloth or paper fastened between the sole and upper, and then cut or torn off after the shoe was finished. This method was fairly expensive, and also unsatisfactory, because the edges of the removed coverings sometimes “grinned.” Another method, not mentioned by Lionne in his patent specification, was to apply white dope by a brush or sponge operated by hand. Lionne’s alleged invention consisted simply in applying substantially the same material, for the same purposes, by air brush, also an old device, under a pressure of 50 to 75 pounds.

The record shows that there is nothing new about using white dope as protective coverings for white shoes, and-that the air brush has long been used by shoe manufacturers for the purpose of applying stain or finishing coatings to the edges and bottoms of soles, as it has also been used in other arts for applying paints and paintlike mixtures, generally. It would be going very far to say that a shoe manufacturer, who had already found it advantageous to use air brushes in applying stain to the edge or bottoms of soles, would not naturally think of deriving like advantage from using air brushes, instead of hand brushes, in applying white dope to protect white shoes during the process of manufacture. The obvious fact that the dope can, as the court below pointed out, be put on two or three times as fast by air brush as by hand, would certainly — apart from any other advantage, real or supposititious — lead to the use of the air brush.

If we assume (what is on this record doubtful) that the air brush gave a somewhat better coating than the hand brush or the sponge, the inference is that like improved results accrued from the use of the air brush on the edges or bottoms of soles. Apparently any paint or paintlike substance would, when applied by the air brush, fill interstices, and possibly coat more evenly, than when merely spread by a hand brush. We agree with the court below that the ease falls within the principle that it is not invention to use an old process *for a new and analogous purpose. Walker on Patents (5th Ed.) § 38; Brown v. Piper, 91 U. S. 37, 23 L. Ed. 200; In re Braselton, 51 App. D. C. 31, 273 F. 759.

In general, we agree with the reasoning of the court below on this part of the ease, and with his conclusion that there was no invention. But, if there were otherwise any doubt’ as to the soundness of the conclusion, we think that doubt would be resolved by considering the history of the patent in the Patent Office.

In Lionne’s original application, claims 12, 13, and 14 were as follows:

“12. The method of temporarily protecting the surface of an article, which consists in applying a fluid composition in a finely divided state to the surface to be protected to produce thereon a layer of dense formation, drying said layer and subsequently removing said layer in fragments.
“13. The method of temporarily protecting the surface of an article, which consists in forcibly applying a fluid composition in a finely divided state to the surface to be protected to produce thereon a layer of dense formation, drying said layer and subi sequently removing said layer 'in fragments.
“14. The method of temporarily protecting the surface of an article which consists in forcibly applying in finely divided condition a coat of inert material intimately associated with an adhesive substance, drying said coat and subsequently removing said dried coat in fragments.”

We have italicized the significant words “forcibly applying.”

The patent examiner said: “Claims * * * 12 and 13 are rejected as not patentable over coating with lacquer.” Also: “ 'Forcibly applying’ is a common and obvious way of applying any coating material. No patentable novelty is involved in this limitation.” Thereupon, Lionne amended his application by canceling claims 13 and 14, and inserting in claim 12 the words “thick viscous” after “applying,” so that claim 12, as amended, reads as follows:

“Claim 12. The method of temporarily protecting the surface of an article which consists in applying a thick viscous fluid composition in a finely divided state to the surface to be protected to produce thereon a layer of dense formation, drying said layer and subsequently removing said layer in fragments.”

The gist of the argument of appellant’s learned counsel now is that, notwithstanding this history, claim 12 is to be read as though it contained the words “forcibly applying.” It is unnecessary to discuss in detail the nu[85]*85merous eases dealing with, the effect of canceled claims. Millard v. Chase, 108 F. 399, 47 C. C. A. 429; Morgan Envelope Co. v. Albany Perf. Paper Co., 152 U. S. 425, 14 S. Ct. 627, 38 L. Ed. 500; Richardson v. Amerian Pin Co. (C. C.) 73 F. 476; United States, etc., Co. v. Sturtevant Co. (C. C.) 122 F. 470, 475; Royer v.

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Bluebook (online)
7 F.2d 83, 1925 U.S. App. LEXIS 3493, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lionne-co-v-cushman-hollis-co-ca1-1925.