Syracuse v. H. Daust Manufacturing Co.

184 F. Supp. 844, 126 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 349, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2232
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedJuly 29, 1959
DocketNo. 10988(2)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 184 F. Supp. 844 (Syracuse v. H. Daust Manufacturing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Syracuse v. H. Daust Manufacturing Co., 184 F. Supp. 844, 126 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 349, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2232 (E.D. Mo. 1959).

Opinion

HARPER, Chief Judge.

This is a suit for patent infringement, this court having jurisdiction under Title 28 U.S.C.A. § 1338(a). The plaintiff was issued U. S. Patent No. 2,533,850 on a “Utility Handbag Having Double Compartment With Individual Closures and Independently Accessible Bottle Pockets.” The patent was applied for on September 13, 1947. The bag is lined with waterproof material and has two parallel compartments separated by a divider. These two compartments are for wet and dry diapers. At each end of the bag is a compartment for a baby’s milk bottle. Entrance to the four compartments of the bag is gained by separate zippered closures.

The defendant contends (1), that the plaintiff is not the owner of the patent in suit and therefore cannot maintain this action, and (2), the patent in suit is invalid for lack of invention.

There has been one suit by the plaintiff against a different defendant involving the patent here involved. In Syracuse and New Wonder Bag Corp. v. Paris, No. 15994, the District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division, granted a summary judgment for the defendant, holding that the patent was invalid for lack of invention. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, 234 F.2d 65. The plaintiff agrees that if New Wonder Bag Corporation is the owner of the patent in suit, it is an indispensable party. The defendant contends that there is “proof positive” that the plaintiff is not the owner. First, the defendant points to the complaint in Syracuse and New Wonder Bag Corp. v. Paris, supra, which was unverified and which alleged that the plaintiff [845]*845Syracuse was the owner of the patent up to “ * * * January 5,1951, when said patent was assigned to * * * ” the corporation. Secondly, the defendant in its brief, purporting to quote from the cross-examination of the plaintiff by her own attorney when her deposition was taken on behalf of defendant Paris on July 28, 1954, in connection with the first suit, states as follows:

“Q. (By Mr. Geauque) Mrs. Syracuse, in connection with defendant’s Exhibit 3, (a, copy of <m instrument of assignment), were you to receive any financial remuneration for the setting over of the patent and application on the Utility Hand Bag, Ser. No. 773,747, now the patent in suit, for setting it over to the corporation, New Wonder Bag Corp.? A. They gave me $2,000.-00.
“Q. Did you receive the money from them? A. Yes, as soon as I received the patent number and released it, they handed me $2,000.00 * * * Emphasis added.

Exhibit 3 referred to above was listed as an “agreement” when plaintiff’s first deposition was taken and it was withdrawn, its contents apparently never having been before the court in that case. The same attorney that questioned plaintiff when her first deposition was taken also questioned her when her deposition was taken on February 4, 1959, in connection with the case at bar. It was that attorney who referred to the agreement as a purported assignment. On February 4, 1959, neither plaintiff, nor the one-time sales manager of the New Wonder Bag Corporation, Ralph W. Dahl, were questioned about ownership of the patent or any alleged assignment to the corporation. Finally, the defendant points to the finding of fact of the District Court in the prior case which stated that the plaintiff “ * * * did on or about January 5, 1951, assign the said patent * * * ” to the corporation. This is weakened considerably by the fact that the Court of Appeals referred to the corporation as a licensee of the plaintiff, and also by the fact that the District Court appears never to have had any evidence before it on this point other than the plaintiff’s deposition of July 28, 1954, and the complaint in the case on which to base its finding of fact. The complaint in the case at bar alleges that the plaintiff has been the owner of the patent since it was issued. The patent shows on its face that it was issued on December 12, 1950, to the plaintiff. There is in evidence a certification from the U. S. Patent Office showing that they have no record of any assignment of the patent from September 13, 1945, through May 20, 1954. My conclusion is that the record title is in the plaintiff and the defendant has not shown that plaintiff at any time was divested of that title.

The patent, having been duly issued, is entitled to a presumption of validity, Title 35 U.S.C.A., Sec. 282. The court in Syracuse and New Wonder Bag Corp. v. Paris, supra, concluded that the bag lacked the elements that the U. S. Patent laws were intended to protect, a conclusion reached by taking “one look at the bag”. [234 F.2d 66.] Although the question of anticipation was not properly reached (the court so stating), the court concluded that even if the bag were patentable, that the prior art, particularly the Shanzer patent (Des. 147,477), not cited by the Patent Office, would require invalidation. The Shanzer patent was applied for on September 17, 1946, while the patent in suit was applied for on September 13, 1947, nearly one full year later. The bag appearing in the drawing on the Shanzer patent is called a "Combined Bottle and Diaper Utility Bag” and it bears a close resemblance to the plaintiff’s bag. The big distinction between the two is that the bag shown on the Shanzer patent has only one zipper opening and compartment in the top of the bag. The plaintiff contends that the Shanzer patent is not available for showing anticipation of the invention because the date of her invention was prior to September 17, 1946. This also would eliminate the Holland Patent (2,447,940 —"Waterproof Foldable Handbag for [846]*846Baby Accessories”), cited by the Patent Office and referred to (in conjunction with other prior patents) when all of the original five claims made by the plaintiff were rejected. The plaintiff bears the burden of proof in carrying the date of her invention beyond the date of the Shanzer patent. In Deering v. Winona Harvester Works, 155 U.S. 286, 301, 15 S.Ct. 118, 124, 39 L.Ed. 153, 159, the court indicated that the earlier date must be proved “by evidence so cogent as to leave no reasonable doubt in the mind of the court.” In United Shoe Machinery Corp. v. Brooklyn Wood Heel Corp., 2 Cir., 77 F.2d 263, the court said:

“* * * When an inventor’s date is to be carried back beyond his application, courts regard the effort with great jealousy, and must be persuaded with a certainty which is seldom demanded elsewhere; quite as absolute as in a criminal case, in practice perhaps even more so.” Loe. cit. 264.

To establish a date antecedent to September 17, 1946, the plaintiff introduced a registered letter at the taking of her deposition on February 4, 1959. The letter bears postmarks of both February 23, and February 24, 1947, and plaintiff testified that she mailed the letter to herself. The envelope contained two items: (1), an unsigned and undated “To Whom It May Concern” letter (Plaintiff’s Ex. 17), and (2), a letter dated February 21, 1947, also addressed “To Whom It May Concern” and purportedly signed by a John R. Russell, Jr. (Plaintiff’s Ex. 16). The plaintiff’s Exhibit 17 contains a description of a four compartment bag, each compartment accessible by,a separate zippered opening.

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Related

Faances P. Syracuse v. H. Daust Manufacturing Co.
280 F.2d 377 (Eighth Circuit, 1960)

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Bluebook (online)
184 F. Supp. 844, 126 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 349, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/syracuse-v-h-daust-manufacturing-co-moed-1959.