Systematic Tool & MacHine Company v. Walter Kidde & Company, Inc.

555 F.2d 342, 193 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 587
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMarch 25, 1977
Docket76-1660
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 555 F.2d 342 (Systematic Tool & MacHine Company v. Walter Kidde & Company, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Systematic Tool & MacHine Company v. Walter Kidde & Company, Inc., 555 F.2d 342, 193 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 587 (3d Cir. 1977).

Opinions

SNYDER, District Judge:

Systematic Tool and Machine Co., Systematic Products, Inc., and Dominic D’Am-bro, licensees, with Clayton E. Giangiulio, owner of the patent, filed this action for patent infringement. The decision of the district court found valid and infringed Patent No. 3,369,582 (hereinafter “the ’582 patent”) issued February 20, 1968, for a hand-operated tomato-slicing device. Appeal was taken to this court under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(4) giving us jurisdiction over “Judgments in civil actions for patent infringement which are final except for accounting.” Since we find the subject matter of the patent and the prior art relating to this device is obvious, we reverse under 35 U.S.C. § 103.1

I. THE PATENT IN SUIT

The patent in suit relates to a commercially successful2 and efficient tomato slicer. As set forth in Claim 1, the device is characterized by the following features:

1. A pusher to hold the tomato and move it with reference to an array of blades.

2. The blade array lying at an angle less than 40° with respect to the pusher path of movement.

3. The angle of separation between the pusher leading arm and trailing arm being greater than 90°.

4. The angle between the leading arm ■ and the cutting edge of the blades being less than 90°.

5. The trailing arm of the pusher making a small acute angle with reference to the cutting edge of the blades.

The plaintiffs assert that the tough skin and mushy interior of a tomato present a unique problem in slicing since a direct perpendicular contact of the tomato and blade edge tends to bruise or mangle the tomato. Plaintiffs’ claimed invention solved this problem by the various angles between the leading and trailing arms which hold the tomato between the pusher and the angle of the cutting edges of the blades to the pusher. The ’582 patent device pushes the tomato in a straight line through the rack of thin blades at an angle less than 40° with respect to the pusher path of movement. See Figure I.

[344]*344The original claims filed did not relate the angle of the leading and trailing arms to the physical structure or recite any particular angles for them. The Examiner originally rejected the claims for two reasons: (1) for indefiniteness in not stating relationships between the angles and physical structures, and (2) for obviousness over a combination of prior art slicers with similar structures but having somewhat different angles relating to the blades and pusher. The claims were amended to distinguish the prior art (as underlined by the patentee to make it apparent how the claim differed from the prior art) as follows:

“. . .an [relatively small acute] angle less than forty (40) degrees with respect to said pusher path of movement, the angle of separation between said pusher leading arm and trailing arm being greater than 90°. the ande between said leading arm and the cutting edge of said blades being less than 90° with the trailing arm of said pusher making a small acute angle with respect to said cutting edge. . . . whereby said pusher assembly [achieving] achieves a smooth shearing action [by said blades through] with a tomato urged against and through said blades to secure a plurality of thin tomato slices, essentially undamaged, with said tomato holding pocket slots allowing said blades to pass through the tomato.” [Additions to the claim are underlined; deletions are in brackets.]

II. THE ACCUSED DEVICES

There are two accused devices know as the TK-I and the TK-II machines. The TK-I, not sold since 1968, is a virtual copy of the plaintiffs’ machine and was stipulated to be an infringement of the patent in suit, if the court finds the patent in suit valid. The TK-II, not sold since 1972, is a somewhat different looking method of doing that which the plaintiffs’ device (called the “Tomato Tamer”) achieves.3 See Figure II.

III. THE TRIAL COURT’S TREATMENT

The district court filed a preliminary opinion and order holding the ’582 patent valid and infringed but allowed 30 days to file exceptions. Exceptions were filed and by its second opinion, the district court denied the exceptions, affirming and readopting its earlier findings of fact and conclusions of law. A third order later denied injunctive relief in view of the defendant’s cessation of infringing activities in 1972.4

[345]

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Bluebook (online)
555 F.2d 342, 193 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/systematic-tool-machine-company-v-walter-kidde-company-inc-ca3-1977.