Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co. v. Thum

Citations

• 111 F. 904
• 50 C.C.A. 61
• 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4446

Syllabus

<p>Patents—Invention—Bowling Apparatus.</p> <p>The Reisky patent, No. 599,447, for an improvement in bowling apparatus, which consists of a runway or trough for the return of the balls, so constructed that the balls roll rapidly down an incline until near the players’ end of the alley, and then up an ascending incline, which gradually checks their momentum, breaks the force of their impact, and prevents their injury, while apparently embodying only an obvious mechanical expedient, must be conceded patentable invention, in view of evidence showing that for many years mechanics had been engaged in attempts to improve the old-style runways to obviate the same defect, but that the patentee was the first to use the double incline for the purpose, and that his invention at once came into general use.</p>