Temple v. Littlehale

125 F.2d 730, 29 C.C.P.A. 869, 52 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 489, 1942 CCPA LEXIS 28
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedFebruary 24, 1942
DocketNo. 4568
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 125 F.2d 730 (Temple v. Littlehale) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Temple v. Littlehale, 125 F.2d 730, 29 C.C.P.A. 869, 52 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 489, 1942 CCPA LEXIS 28 (ccpa 1942).

Opinion

Leneoot, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the' ‘court:

Appellant has here appealed from a decision of the Board of Appeals of the United States Patent Office in an interference proceeding reversing so much of the decision of the Examiner of Interferences as awarded priority of invention to appellant of the subject matter of counts 1, 2, and 3 of the interference. The decision of the Examiner of Interferences was also reversed with respect to the subject matter of count 9, which the examiner had awarded to appellant, but that count is not involved in this appeal.

The interference isi between an application of appellant filed March 80, 1936, serial No. 71,694, stated in the application to be a division of his application serial No. 668,371, filed April 23, 1933 (now patent No. 2,038,913), and a patent to appellee, No. 2,008,362, issued on July 16, 1935, upon an application filed January 27, 1933, serial No. 653,882.

Count 1 is illustrative of the subject matter in issue and reads as follows :

1. A tool for performing work on metal or other material comprising a barrel, a working element adapted to be inserted into one end of the barrel and removed from the other end thereof with each operation of the tool, means for exploding a charge of material to actuate said working element, and means serving to position the material upon which work is to be performed with respect to said barrel and adapted to limit movement of the working element in the direction in which it passes through said barrel.

Before proceeding with a discussion of the case we would observe that the decisions of the Board of Appeals, the Examiner of Interferences, and the Primary Examiner do not appear in the record as such; but there is in the record a document entitled “Stipulated Precipe for Appeal Record” in which is contained what is stated to be pertinent parts of such decisions. This stipulated record is not in compliance with our rule?'. Our rule XXY, paragraph 3 (e), provides:

(e) Further to reduce the costs of appeals, it shall be permissible for counsel for the respective parties, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Patents, to agree upon a statement of the facts of the case, setting forth the questions raised on appeal and so much only of the evidence as may be necessary to a decision of such question. Such statement shall be in duplicate signed by counsel for the parties and filed with the Commissioner of Patents. * * *

Obviously, the foregoing does not permit stipulated excerpts from the decisions of the Patent Office tribunals. All of such decisions relating to the issues before us should be certified to us in the form rendered.

Each of the counts before us was copied by appellant from appel-lee’s patent. After the declaration of the interference, and within the motion period, appellee moved to dissolve the same upon the ground [871]*871that appellant’s application does not support the counts in issue, and further that certain amendments to appellant’s specification constituted new matter.

The invention involved in the counts relates to a tool for performing work upon metal by explosively driving a projectile or working element through a barrel into engagement with the work.

With respect to the working element of appellee’s device the patent states:

The working element may take various form(s) depending upon the character of the work to be performed. In splicing cables, I usually use a cylindrical bolt or projectile such as -that shown in Figs. 1 and 9, provided with an annular-groove 15 which serves to retain the working element in the cartridge shell during transportation and handling. The end of the shell is provided with an inwardly turned flange engaging the recess 15. However, the'working element may be carried by the cartridge in any other suitable way. I have found it possible, with the-construction described above, to use the same working element over and over again by merely inserting the element into the end of a charged cartridge. I generally crimp the end of the cartridge into the recess 15 to prevent the working element from being lost but this precaution is not essential to successful operation.
In order to provide means for identifying th'e operator or the tool used, the end of the working element may have a -figure, letter or design formed thereon so that upon engaging the work the design is impressed in the metal. For various purposes and particularly when the tool is used for punching holes of irregular shape in the material operated upon, the working element may be given any desired shape or configuration consistent with the use thereof in a tool of this character.

The patent also states:

In each of the forms of the invention described above it is preferable that the bullet or working element, when it comes to rest in engagement with the work, or the working element in the ease of the structure shown in Fig. 10, shall not pass completely out of the end of the barrel. As shown in Fig. 9 the working element, upon engagement with th'e cable splicing elements 63 and 64, is brought to rest with the rearward portion of the working element extending a distance of one-eighth to three-sixteenths of an inch into the barrel. * * *

With respect to the use of the tool for splicing cables the patent states:

In splicing cables with the tool described above the ends of the cable 64 are inserted into a soft copper sleeve 63, as shown in Fig. 9. The tool is loaded by raising the locking arm 21 and moving the barrel forward to permit the insertion of a cartridge carrying th'e working element into the rear of the barrel or explosion chamber. The size, shape and weight of the working element, as well as the charge of powder or other explosive material used, are chosen in each case to effect the desired operation on the work. In some instances I may use an ordinary loaded cartridge such as that used in ordinary fire arms instead of specially formed working elements. However, for cable splicing operations the use of pointed, lead or jacketed bullets is usually less satisfactory than the use of a flat nosed, steel working element of the form illustrated.

[872]*872Appellant’s application as originally filed states in part:

The invention, which has an especially important use in forming .electrical connections, resides generally in driving an element into one or both of the members to be joined under the impulse created by a confined explosive charge.

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Related

Application of Carl W. Walter
292 F.2d 547 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1961)
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155 F.2d 408 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1946)

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Bluebook (online)
125 F.2d 730, 29 C.C.P.A. 869, 52 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 489, 1942 CCPA LEXIS 28, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/temple-v-littlehale-ccpa-1942.