Dalzell v. Dueber Watch Case Manufacturing Co.

Citations

• 149 U.S. 315
• 13 S. Ct. 886
• 37 L. Ed. 749
• 1893 U.S. LEXIS 2305

Syllabus

<p>An oral agreement for the sale and assignment of the right to obtain a patent for an invention is.not within the statute of frauds; nor within section 4898 of the Revised Statutes requiring assignments of patents to be in writing ; and may be specifically enforced in equity, upon sufficient proof thereof.</p> <p>A manufacturing corporation, which has employed a skilled workman, for a stated compensation, to take charge of its works, and to devote his time and services to devising and making improvements in articles there manufactured, is not entitled to a conveyance of patents obtained for inventions made by him while so employed, in the absence of express agreement to that effect.</p> <p>Specific performance will not be decreed ¿n equity, without clear and satisfactory proof of the contract set forth in the bill.</p> <p>Where, at the hearing in equity upon a plea and a general replication, the plea, as pleaded, is not supported by the testimony, it must be overruled, and the defendant ordered to answer the bill.</p>