Bate Refrigerating Co. v. Sulzberger

Syllabus

<p>The provision in Rev. Stat. § 4887 respecting a “ patent granted for an invention which has been previously patented in a foreign country ” refers to foreign patents granted previously to the issue of letters patent for the same invention by the United States, and not to foreign patents granted previously to the application for the American letters.</p> <p>When such foreign letters issue before the United States letters issue, the American patent is so limited as to expire' at the same time with the foreign patent having the shortest term, but in no case is it to be in force more than seventeen years.</p> <p>When the language used in a statute is plain and unambiguous, á refusal to recognize its natural obvious meaning may be justly regarded as indicating a purpose to change the law by judicial action, based upon some supposed policy of Congress.</p> <p>United States v. Bowen, 100 U. S. 508, cited approvingly to the point that “ the Revised Statutes must be treated as the legislative declaration of the statute law on the subjects which they embrace on the first day of December, 1873,” and that “ when the meaning is plain, the courts cannot look to the statutes which have been revised to see if Congress erred in' that revision, but may do so when necessary to construe- doubtful language used in expressing the meaning of Congress;”-</p>