Mojonnier Dawson Co. v. U. S. Dairies Sales Corp.

168 F. Supp. 519, 119 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 408, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3103
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedNovember 18, 1958
DocketCiv. A. Nos. 54 C 277, 58 C 648
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 168 F. Supp. 519 (Mojonnier Dawson Co. v. U. S. Dairies Sales Corp.) 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
Mojonnier Dawson Co. v. U. S. Dairies Sales Corp., 168 F. Supp. 519, 119 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 408, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3103 (N.D. Ill. 1958).

Opinion

LA BUY, District Judge.

Civil Action 54 C 277 is here on mandates in Appeals Nos. 11784 and 11785 from the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in a decision dated February 21, 1958 (decision published 251 F.2d 345, certiorari denied 356 U.S. 975, 78 S.Ct. 1139, 2 L.Ed.2d 1148. Appeal No. 11784 was by plaintiff and Appeal No. 11785 by the Brasile defendants.

In Appeal No. 11784 the Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of Judge John P. Barnes the District Court 142 F.Supp. 385 insofar as Count I was dismissed for want of equity in holding the Mojonnier reissue patent 23,-830 invalid for unpatentable aggregation, and held claims 1, 6 and 7 of said patent valid in law. It remanded to the District Court the issue of alleged infringement by the Brasile defendants. The decision also reversed the District Court which dismissed Count III of the Second Amended Complaint which charges the Brasile defendants with certain alleged acts of infringement and unfair competition, asserting that the infringement was aggravated, and remanded this for retrial. Instead of retrial of Count III the parties agreed at a pretrial conference with this Court May 27, 1958 to rely on the original trial record. The issues were (1) infringement and (2) aggravation of infringement and unfair competition.

In defendants’ Appeal No. 11785 the Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the District Court dismissing the counterclaim of the Brasile defendants and remanded the cause for further proceedings. The issue involves (1) alleged trade harassment by the plaintiff and (2) [521]*521admissibility and sufficiency of defendants’ evidence with respect to damage.

Civil Action 58 C 648 was filed April 10. 1958 by the Mojonnier Dawson Company against Liquid Package Equipment Co., Frank Martinetti and Howard E. Garrett for infringement of claims 1, 6 and 7 of the Mojonnier reissue patent 23,830. The action was consolidated with 54 C 277 because both actions are for infringement of the Mojonnier reissue patent 23,830 and there is privity of parties defendants.

These causes have come on to be heard after each party filed briefs, findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order of judgment in compliance with order of this Court as a result of the pre-trial conference.

Prior to oral argument the parties agreed to a settlement of this litigation. Under such agreement the parties stipulated (1) that the Second Amended Complaint be dismissed as against the defendant Eugene Blum with prejudice and without costs to either party; (2) that Count III of the Second Amended Complaint be dismissed as to the defendants Maurice J. Brasile, U. S. Dairies Sales Corp., Milk Container Equipment Corp., and Purity Pack Corp., such dismissal being without prejudice to Count I but otherwise with prejudice and without costs to plaintiff or to any of the defendants; and (3) that defendants’ counterclaim be dismissed with prejudice and without costs to defendants or to plaintiff.

Also under such agreement and subject to the order of this Court, the parties consent to a final judgment. In support of such judgment the Court enters the following:

Findings of Fact (Civil Action 54 C 277).

The Parties.

1. Plaintiff, the Mojonnier Dawson Company, is an Illinois corporation with its principal place of business at 9151 Fullerton Avenue, Franklin Park, Illinois (PX 1). Plaintiff is the lawful owner of the patent in suit, United States Letters Patent Reissue 23,830 (PX 3), reissued May 18, 1954 from original patent 2,667,990 (PX 2), granted February 2, 1954 to plaintiff as assignee of the inventor Albert B. Mojonnier (PX 4) with the right to recover for all infringements alleged in the complaint (R. 109-16).

2. Defendant, U. S. Dairies Sales Corp., is an Illinois corporation with its office at 643 McHenry Avenue, Woodstock, Illinois (PX 92).

3. Defendant, Milk Container Equipment Corp., is an Illinois corporation with its office at 331 Johnson Avenue, Woodstock, Illinois (PX 91).

4. Defendant, Purity Pack Corp., is an Illinois corporation with its office at 331 Johnson Avenue, Woodstock, Illinois (PX 90).

5. Defendant, Maurice J. Brasile, is a resident of Woodstock, Illinois, residing at 454 Lawndale, Woodstock, Illinois (R. 973).

6. Defendant, Eugene Blum, named in the Second Amended Complaint, has been withdrawn by plaintiff.

7. Unless mentioned individually, the defendants U. S. Dairies Sales Corpv, Milk Container Equipment Corp., Purity Pack Corp., and Maurice P. Brasile, are referred to herein as “Brasile defendants”.

The Mojonnier Invention.

8. In March, 1946, Albert B. Mojonnier, the inventor in patent 2,667,990 and reissue thereof 23,830 here in suit, formed the plaintiff corporation. This was a small company having three incorporators and five employees. Mojonnier started making a line of small equipment for dairy plants, including such items as work tables, cutting knives for ice-cream, butter and cheese, and then added a small line of vacuum fillers for filling wines, insecticides, syrups, and chemical solutions, also a piston type filler for food products (R. 109, 165, PX 15, PX 16). At the time of this invention Mojonnier was a highly experienced engineer with a background of some 16 years as .an employee of Mojonnier [522]*522Brothers Company, Chicago, in designing and manufacturing equipment of a wide variety for the dairy, food and chemical industries, and particularly machines operating on the vacuum principle for filling milk into glass bottles. During this period he became acquainted with all types of filling equipment used in the dairy industry for filling milk containers, namely, the piston type, the displacement type, the siphon type, and the gravity type, in addition to the vacuum type. None of these fillers were satisfactory for small dairy plants for filling milk into paper cartons, nor for the aerosol industry. With this background, Mojonnier made the invention patented in reissue 23,830, claims 1, 6 and 7 of which are to be here interpreted (R. 116-219, 540-623).

9. The Mojonnier invention is especially designed for repetitive production filling of liquids in commercial plants where the filling operations require a high degree of accuracy in the quantity of liquid dispensed at each filling and where the cost of such filling operations is important. In the dairy industry the invention is of particular utility for filling milk into wax or paraffin-treated paper cartons. The invention was a boon to small dairymen because it made available to them for the first time a suitable low-priced filling machine which enabled them to compete with the larger dairy concerns who had large and expensive filling equipment operating on principles quite different from the Mojonnier invention. (Dairy industry testimony: Albert B. Mojonnier, R. 117-220; 603-623; Lee Campbell, R. 809-823; Richard L. Farrell, R. 770-795; Joseph L. Rosen, R. 824-43; Harold Wainess, R. 844-853; Exhibits: PX 73, plaintiff’s model W-C-l Filler; PX 39, plaintiff’s model CP Filler; PX 53, “Pure Pak” carton y2 gallon; PX 54, American Can paper carton 1 quart; PX 55, Seal King paper carton, 1 quart; PX 62, Circular plaintiff’s “Electromatic” fillers; PX 63, Circular plaintiff’s “Electromatic” Model E-Seal King Filler; and PX 68, large scrap book containing articles, publications and clippings, plaintiff’s “Electromatic” fillers.)

10.

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Bluebook (online)
168 F. Supp. 519, 119 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 408, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mojonnier-dawson-co-v-u-s-dairies-sales-corp-ilnd-1958.