Fond Du Lac County v. May

Citations

• 137 U.S. 395
• 11 S. Ct. 98
• 34 L. Ed. 714
• 1890 U.S. LEXIS 2099

Syllabus

<p>Letters patent No. 25,662, granted to Edwin May, October 4, 1859, for an “improvement in the construction of prisons,’? are invalid.</p> <p>The novel idea set forth in the patent was to interpose a grating between the jailer and the prisoners at every stage of opening and shutting a door. The mechanism of the patent, except the grating, was old.</p> <p>As to claim 1, the angle door being old, its combination with a lock or bolt was not new or patentable.</p> <p>As to claims 3 and 4, the mechanical devices were old, and operated in the same way, either with or without the grating.</p> <p>Introducing the grating did not make a patentable combination, but only an aggregation.</p>