United States Envelope Co. v. Transo Paper Co.
United States Envelope Co. v. Transo Paper Co.
Opinion of the Court
This is a hearing upon a return to a rule to show cause why the defendants Transo Paper Co. and its president, Julius Regenstein, should not be punished for violation of the preliminary and final injunctions granted herein to restrain infringement of letters patent of the United States No. 835,850, for an improvement in envelopes, of which the plaintiffs are the owners. The patent was sustained, after litigation, in the Northern District of California, and, on appeal, by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. H. J. Heinze Co. v. Cohn, 207 Fed. 547, 125 C. C. A. 197.
The defense to this petition is that all of the sales complained of (with the exception of certain alleged sales to a corporation known as the Regenstein-Veeder Company) were actually completed, although there was no delivery of the envelopes prior to September 8, 1913, the date when the temporary injunction took effect; no question having been made as to the identity of the envelopes.
“Tlu; power of the Circuit Court to direct the payment of a part or all of the flue to the complainant in an application! for contempt, as a compensation for Ms time and outlay in prosecuting the application, has been often recognized in the Circuit Courts, especially in this circuit, and in practice is a power which ought to be exercised when the expenses and trouble to which the complainant has been subjected justify its exercise. In re Mullee, 7 Blatchf. 23, Fed. Cas. No. 9,911; Macaulay v. Machine Co. (C. C.) 9 Fed. 698; In re Tilt (D. C.) 11 Fed. 463; In re North Bloomfield Gravel-Min. Co. (C. C.) 27 Fed. 795; Wells Fargo & Co. v. Oregon Ry. & Nav. Co. (C. C.) 19 Fed. 20.”
A writ of error to review this ruling was dismissed by the Supreme Court in Cary Manufacturing Co. v. Acme Flexible Clasp Co., 187 U. S. 427, 23 Sup. Ct. 211, 47 L. Ed. 244. Subsequently Judge Wallace, writing for the Circuit Court of Appeals, in Christensen Engineering Co. v. Westinghouse Air Brake Co., 135 Fed. 774, 780, 781, 68 C. C. A. 476, reiterated its conclusion as to the propriety of such an order, without the necessity of a reference to a master or the raking of further proofs. This rule is recognized by the Supreme Court in Bessette v. W. B. Conkey Co., 194 U. S. 324, 24 Sup. Ct. 665, 48 L. Ed. 997, in Re Christensen Engineering Co., 194 U. S. 458, 24 Sup. Ct. 729, 48 L. Ed. 1072, in Gompers v. Buck Stove & Range Co., 221 U. S. 418, 31 Sup. Ct. 492, 55 L. Ed. 797, 34 L. R. A. (N. S.) 874, and in Re Merchants’ Stock & Grain Co., 223 U. S. 639, 32 Sup. Ct. 339, 56 L. Ed. 584, and is in accord with the established practice in other circuits, particularly in patent causes. Kreplik v. Couch Patents Co., 190 Fed. 565, 571, 111 C. C. A. 381; Hendryx
The' plaintiffs are entitled to a decree imposing upon the defendants a fine, for the use of the plaintiffs, as a proper remedial measure, to be estimated by the pecuniary injury caused by the defendants’ disobedience to the injunctions, which is fixed at $500.
Decree accordingly.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES ENVELOPE CO. v. TRANSO PAPER CO.
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Judgment ©=>701—Persons Concluded—Suit for Infringement of Patent. Where the president of a corporation, who was also owner of substantially all of its stock, actually conducted the defense to a suit for infringement against the corporation, and had full knowledge of all proceedings, he is fully hound by the decree therein. [Ed. Note.—For other cases, see Judgment, Cent. Dig. § 1226; Dec. Dig. ©=>701.] 2. Patents ©=>326—Suit for Infringement—Violation of Injunction. - Substantially all of the stock of a manufacturing company, and of a storage and sales company which acted as its agent, was owned by the president, who was also the manager of both corporations. After the granting and' service of both preliminary and permanent injunctions against the manufacturing company in an infringement suit, it transferred infringing articles of the identical kind involved in the suit to the sales company, which finished, stored, and negotiated sales of the same; the sales being in fact made by and for the benefit of the manufacturing company. Held, on the evidence, that such transactions were deliberately intended to evade the injunctions, and rendered the manufacturing company and its president liable for contempt. [Ed. Note.—For other cases, see Patents, Cent. Dig. §§ 613-619; Dec. Dig. ©=>326.] 3. Patents ©=>326 — Infringement — Violation of Injunction — Disposition of Fine. In proceedings to punish for contempt for violation of an injunction in an infringement suit, it is within the power of the court to direct the payment of a part or of all of the fine imposed to the complainant as compensation for his time and outlay in prosecuting the application. LEd. Note.—For other cases, see Patents, Cent. Dig. f}§ 613-619; Dec. Dig. ©=>326.] ^E5>3Tor other cases see topic & KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests & Indexes