Hurd v. James Goold Co.
Hurd v. James Goold Co.
Opinion of the Court
The validity of the Grant patent, No.
554,675, dated February 18, 1896, for rubber tired wheel, has been declared by the Supreme Court of the United States in Diamond Rubber Co. of New York v. Consolidated Rubber Tire Co. and Rubber Tire Wheel Co. (April 10, 1911) 220 U. S. 428, 31 Sup. Ct. 444, 55 L. Ed. 527. Prior to this decision the lower courts had differed as to the validity of this patent, and while in the Second circuit it had been held valid, in the Indiana circuit (Circuit Court) and in the Sixth circuit (Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Rubber Tire Wheel Co., 116 Fed. 363, 53 C. C. A. 583), the patent was held invalid. Also in Rubber-Tire Wheel Co. v. Victor Rubber-Tire Co., 123 Fed. 85, 59 C. C. A. 215, which followed 116 Fed. 363, 53 C. C. A. 583, the patent was held invalid. In the circuits where the patent was held invalid, infringers (under the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States), relying on the decisions of the courts in their respective circuits, continued) to make the rubber tires and wheels, and still continue to do so, and to vend same to parties residing in other circuits, notably the Second circuit, where
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'X. Q. 43. Do you use a machine for drawing those wires as tightly as’ yóú can without .breaking them, so as to clamp.the rubber, firmly In the channel iron so tightly that it cannot lift its base from the channel (iron); in,.use? Po you-do that? A.-Yes, sir. ' • .
T do not think this, assuming it to be absolutely • true, avoids' inf fringement. I do not think the Supreme Court of the United ‘States intended to 'hold, or that it did hold, that the validity o;f the Gránt patent depends on the fact (here alleged) that the rubber tire would tip sidewise on meeting an 'obstruction or blow from an' ’obstruction as the' vehicle'was 'being driven along■ the ■ roadway; diiU lift its base from the iron channel or riin in which1 it'is-pÍacéd;,'áhd:'#hieh'’Hni is on the felloes of the wheel. If such is the construction of the Grant rubber tired wheel, and if such is its operation when in actual use, the structure is and must be inoperative and worthless. If this rubber-tire, every,-.time .fit is struck a-severe: blow-by meeting an obstruction, tips sidewise and! lifts from its base or resting place in the channel iron in which it’rides,' or is-carried/the dust, dirt, and mud would enter the space so that the rubber tire yvquld nQ longer rest in and on the channel iron b.ut in and on the interposed dirt or mud. which would be falling.out to be replaced by other dirt, and the tire would also “creep” in the channel iron and soon wear out and become useless. ■ This is obvious to a- person who; has ever used such vehicles and such" or similar tires. It is .trite ,that the Grant rubber tire tips sidewise, on striking aii obstacle,,’but it does not lift its base from the channel iron. Both rubber tíre;; and the steel wires are springy and resilient. They give,. andf the rpbb.e,r lifts or springs away from''the''blow;''hut it’’does not lift its’‘base
The defendant here, on the main question, urges the doctrine of Keeler v. Standard Folding Bed Co., 157 U. S. 659, 15 Sup. Ct. 738, 39 L. Ed. 848. That is not this case, and even there Mr. Justice Brown, Mr. Justice Field, and Chief Justice Fuller dissented. Full_ faith and credit can be given the decrees mentioned without holding that the Kokomo Company and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company have the right as against Hurd in New York, not a party to such decrees and who obtained his rights under the Grant patent now held valid by the supreme law of the land before those actions were commenced, to sell such infringing, tires in New York and confer the right on their vendees doing business in New York to vend andl use them there. And I do not think Kessler v. Eldred, 206 U. S. 285, 27 Sup. Ct. 611, 51 L. Ed. 1065, seriously conflicts with these views. The question has been certified to the Supreme Court of the United States, and this court adheres to its opinion heretofore expressed in Hurd v. Seim et al. (C. C.) 189 Fed. 591, and Hurd v. Woodward Co. (C. C.) 190 Fed. 28. See Hurd v. Seim Co., 191 Fed. 832, 112 C. C. A. 349.
On the motion of the complainant Hurd alone, there will be an injunction as prayed for on condition that the complainant Hurd execute a bond approved by this court in the su¡m of $1,500 to pay all damages the defendant may sustain by reason thereof in case it is held such decrees protect the defendant.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HURD v. JAMES GOOLD CO.
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- 1 case
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- Syllabus
- 1u Patents (§ 327*) — Infringement—Conflicting Decisions in Different Circuits. Decisions of the federal courts in certain circuits holding a patent void in suits against manufacturers of articles which infringe if the patent is valid, although not appealed from, cannot protect purchasers of such infringing articles from the defendants in such suits in vending the same in another circuit after the Supreme Court has adjudged the patent valid, as against an exclusive licensee who acquired his rights before such decisions were rendered. [Ed. Note. — For other eases, see Patents, Cent. Dig. §§ 620-625; Dec. Dig. § 327.*] 2. Patents (§ 289*) — Suit for Infringement — Laches. The owner of a patent or a licensee thereunder is not barred by laches from maintaining a suit for infringement because of delay during the time the patent was being litigated in other suits, and especially where the decisions as to its validity were conflicting. [Ed. Note. — For other eases, see Patents, Cent. Dig. §§ 467-469; Dec. Dig. § 289.* Laches as a defense in suits for infringement of patents, see notes to Taylor v. Sawyer Spindle Co., 22 C. C. A. 211; Richardson v. D. M. Osborne & Co., 36 C. C. A. 613.] 3. Patents (§ -328*) — Infringement—Rubber Tired Wheel. The Grant patent, No. 554,675, for a rubber tired wheel, construed, and held infringed. 4. Patents (§ 327*) — Suits for Infringement — Parties. That the owner of a patent who joins with an exclusive licensee in certain territory in a suit for infringement within such territory has been enjoined in another jurisdiction from prosecuting such suit does not affect the right of the licensee, who may maintain the suit alone. [Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Patents, Cent. Dig. §§ 620-625; Dec. Dig. § 327.*]