Cone v. St. John

Citations

• 180 Pa. 25
• 36 A. 415
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 863

Syllabus

<p>Equity — Evidence—Trust—Parol evidence varying written instrument— Patent.</p> <p>J. the owner of a patent assigned one half interest in it to his son C., and the other half to S. Subsequently J. applied for a patent for an improvement upon this patented article. The patent was issued after his death, and C. as executor assigned the patent to S. Subsequently C. filed a bill in equity against S., averring that one half of the second patent belonged to him, and that the assignment had been made under an agreement that S. would reassign to C. a one half interest in the second patent. S. denied that C. had any interest in the patent, and averred that J. had taken out the patent for S. alone, and thatS. was the equitable owner of it at the time of J.’s death. The solicitor who had taken out the patent testified that it was taken out for S. There was in evidence declarations of J. that the patent belonged to C. and S., but some of these declarations were applicable to the first patent. For five years after the assignment S. held himself out as the absolute owner of the patent. C. testified that he had made constant demands for a reassignment, but S. denied that any such demands bad been made upon him. Meld, that the master’s finding that C. had no interest in the patent, confirmed by the court below, would not be reversed by the Supreme Court.</p>