Sharp v. Stamping Co.

103 U.S. 250, 26 L. Ed. 445, 1880 U.S. LEXIS 2111
CourtSupreme Court of the United States
DecidedMarch 21, 1881
Docket245
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 103 U.S. 250 (Sharp v. Stamping Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of the United States primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sharp v. Stamping Co., 103 U.S. 250, 26 L. Ed. 445, 1880 U.S. LEXIS 2111 (1881).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Woods

delivered the opinion of the court.'

On July 14, 1868, letters-patent No. 79,989 were granted to. one H; Y. Lazear for an improved apparatus for broiling steak by gas. This patent was transferred by the assignment of the *251 patentee to one W. Phillips, who, by another assignment, transferred it to James L. Sharp.. The invention was represented and described as an upright cylinder or closed casing of sheet-metal, with a lid for closing the top, and with an open bottom. The diameter of the open bottom was traversed by a V-shaped horizontal trough, dividing it into two equal openings, through which the flame of a gas-stove, over which the. apparatus was placed, might enter in two equal sheets. The trough was filled with plaster of Paris or other good non-conduCtor of heat, and upon this non-conductor the dripping-pan was placed for receiving the juices of the meat. The steak was clasped in a wire broiler, which was placed in the cylinder or closed casing in a vertical position, with its lower end resting in the dripping-pan, the two flat sides of the meat being equally exposed to the two sheets of flame which entered the lower end of the cylinder in the manner stated. The object was to produce an apparatus in which both' sides of the meat might be cooked equally and at the same time, and in which the drippings from the meat might be caught in a pan, where it would be protected from the injurious effects of the heat. The latter object was obtained by the non-conductol* filling upon which the drip-pan rested, and which filled the V_shaped trough. The trough served to contain the filling and support the pan, and to divide the flame into two equal sheets, which ascended along the sides of the steak.

The first and third claims of the patent were thus stated: —

“1. The V-shaped trough E and the filling E', by which the flame is divided, and the grease protected from burning, and smoke thereby prevented, substantially as described, in combination with a gas steak-broiler.”
“ 8. An apparatus for broiling steak by gas, whereby the steak is broiled or cooked simultaneously on both sides, or where the sides are equally exposed to the flame and heat, substantially as shown and described.”

On May 8, 1876, Sharp filed the bill in this case. He claimed to be the sole owner of the letters-patent issued to Lazear, and charged that the defendant, the Dover Stamping Company, had unlawfully and Avrongfully made,s used, and sold, and was making, using, and selling, large quantities of *252 gas-heaters, such as were described and claimed in the letters-patent, in infringement pf them and in violation of his exclusive privilege.

The bill prayed that the defendant might be compelled to account for and pay over all gains and profits derived from the infringement of the patent, and for a perpetual injunction restraining it from making, using, or vending gas-heaters embodying the invention' described in the letters-patent claimed by complainant.

Upon final hearing in the Circuit Court the bill was dismissed. Sharp thereupon brought the case here by appeal.

It is conceded by the defendant that the gas-heaters manufactured by it embody the invention claimed in letters-patent issued to Lazear. The defence relied on is that Lazear “ Avas not the original and first inventor of the whole or any substantial or material part of the things set forth and claimed as new in said letters-patent, but that prior to said alleged invention thereof the same had been describe,d and set forth in the following specified letters-patent of the United States, and known to and used by the several patentees .therein named, at the places Of their respective residences, that is to say: No. 28,781, dated June 19, 1860, and granted to William F. Shaw5 of Boston, Massachusetts ; No. 38,018, dated March 24, 1863, and granted to James M. Dick, of Buffalo, NeAV York; and No. 66,911, dated July 16, 1867, and granted to D. C. Teller, of Terre Haute, Indiana.”

Dick’s patent was not introduced in evidence, but Shaw’s and Teller’s were.

The apparatus described in the Teller patent was a cylindrical vessel, having a central opening in the bottom, and an annular opening around the central opening, and a series of vertical Avires or rods inserted in the annular bottom that intervened between the two openings. An inverted conical deflector was suspended in the central space from above.

The claim of Teller’s patent Avas thus stated: —

“ The vertical position in Avhich the steaks are placed over the fire, and the arrangement of the vertical rods EE, all substantially enclosed with the cap C, as specified for the purposes in the specifications.”

*253 It is clear that this contrivance did not anticipate the invention of Lazear. It had no V-shaped trough, filled with a nonconducting substance, nor the dripping-pan referred to and claimed in his letters-patent, nor anything resembling it. It was not adapted to be used with a removable wire broiler, and did not evenly distribute the flame along two sides of the steak. In short, it did not in any manner embody or anticipate the first and third claims of those letters.

The Shaw patent shows an apparatus for broiling or roasting by gas. Its character is thus generally described by the inventor in his specification: —

“ The nature of my invention consists in the arrangement of the steak-holder, the heating-chambers, and the burner or burners. Also in the arrangement of two deflectors in the heating-chamber, and with respect to the burner or burners and the steak-holder, when arranged as specified.”

It consisted of a heating or broiling chamber, whose front vertical side could be removed, and was constructed as a thin, hollow box attached to a drip-pan or gravy-receiver. Against and alongside the inner face of the said cover, and within the heating-chamber, a steak-holder was placed, composed of two wire frames, hinged or connected together at or near one edge of each and furnished with handles. When a steak or other food was to be cooked in the apparatus, it was placed in the steak-holder. In the bottom of the cooking-chamber there was a long opening under which the gas-burners were placed. Over this opening was arranged an inclined deflecting-plate, which extended across the heating-chamber from end to end.

In the upper part of the heating-chamber, and over the deflecting-plate above mentioned, was arranged another deflecting-plate. By means of thin deflectors and the arrangement of the steak-holder, the broiler-chamber and the burners, the inventor claimed to be able to obtain a more equal distribution of the heat within the heating-chamber, with less liability of burning the steak and a better chance of collecting the gravy,, than when the steak-holder was placed horizontally over the burners.

The claims of the inventor were thus stated: —

*254 “ I claim the arrangement of the steak-holder, the broiling-chamber, and the burner or burners.

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Bluebook (online)
103 U.S. 250, 26 L. Ed. 445, 1880 U.S. LEXIS 2111, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sharp-v-stamping-co-scotus-1881.