Jarecki v. Hays

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Jarecki v. Hays, 161 Pa. 613 (Pa. 1894)
29 A. 118; 1894 Pa. LEXIS 742
Dean, Fell, Green, Mitchell, Sterrett

Jarecki v. Hays

Opinion of the Court

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Green,

After a most patient and attentive consideration of the various contracts between the parties, and all the testimon} in the cause, we are constrained to say that we fully concur with the learned master in his findings of fact, and also in his conclusions of law. His entire report is a compact, forcible and *623convincing presentation and treatment of the various matters of contention, and any opinion we might write would be a mere repetition of his findings and his reasoning. Upon the question of the individual operation of both of the contracts of 1878 and 1885 we think there can be no doubt. The parties are named as individuals, they sign as individuals, the heirs and assigns of each of the individual members of the firm are designated as successors to the rights of each of them, the interests of each member of the firm are precisely and individually stated, and while the firm name is occasionally used in its collective sense, the immediate context clearly shows that it was only as a convenient mode of expression. Thus when it is said, “ That the firm of Jarecki, Hays & Co., their executors, administrators and assigns, shall pay unto the said Frederick Jarecki,” etc., it is inevitable that the representatives of each individual were intended to be obligated, because a firm, as such, cannot have any such representatives. The continuance by the present defendants in the manufacture and sale of the patented articles is a sufficient reason for their liability to account, whether the patent was invalid or not, and whether the plaintiff had granted the same privilege to another company or not. The reasoning of the master on this subject and the authorities he cites are conclusive. We are clearly of opinion that the decree of the learned court below should be affirmed upon the findings and conclusions so well and lucidly expressed in the report of the master, and we so hold.

Decree affirmed and appeal dismissed at the cost of the appellants.

Reference

Cited By
6 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Partnership — Patents—Assignment—Contract. By an agreement in writing the owner of a patent granted and sold a one fourth interest in a patent to the “ firm of Jarecki, Hays & Co., and unto the heirs and assigns of each of the members composing said firm.” The firm was composed of the owner of the patent and three other persons. The contract further provided that the “ said firm of Jarecki, Hays & Co., their executors, administrators and assigns ” shall pay unto the grantor a certain royalty. Held, that the parties to the contract covenanted as individuals to pay the royalties which constituted the purchase price of the several interests; and that when two of them, after the dissolution of the original firm, manufactured under the patents, they were bound to pay the royalties. Patents — Royalties—Illegal Patent. Until a patent is annulled, or adjudged invalid, a licensee receiving its benefits must pay the license fee. Patents — Assignment—Exclusive right to manufacture. Where the owner of a patent, in consideration of a royalty, assigns to another the exclusive right to manufacture, and subsequently violates his agreement by making a second assignment of an interest in the patent, the assignee under the first assignment is relieved ft-om his implied contract to manufacture and sell the patented article, but is not relieved from the payment of royalties if he continues to manufacture under the patent. Patents — Royalties—Interest. Where royalties on a patent are due on the first day of each month, interest is allowable on each installment as it becomes due.