Leggett v. Standard Oil Co.

Citations

• 149 U.S. 287
• 13 S. Ct. 902
• 37 L. Ed. 737
• 1893 U.S. LEXIS 2301

Syllabus

<p>The second claim in reissued letters patent No. 5785, granted March 10,1874, to Edward W. Leggett for an improvement in lining oil barrels with glue, viz.: “ for a barrel, casis, etc., coated or sized by the material and by the mode or process whereby it is absorbed into and strengthened the wood fibre, substantially as herein described ” is void as it is an expansion of the- claim in the original patent so as to embrace a claim not specified therein.</p> <p>The first claim therein, viz.: “ the within described process of coating or lining the inside of barrels, casks, etc., with glue, wherein, the glutinous-material, instead of being produced by reduction from a previously solid state, is permitted to attain only a certain liquid consistency and is then applied to the package and permitted to harden thereon for,the first time, substantially as herein set forth and described,” is void: (1) because it was a mere commercial suggestion, and not such a discovery as involved the exercise of the inventive faculties; and, (2), by reason of such prior use as to prevent the issue of any valid patent covering it.</p> <p>The invalidity of a new claim in a reissued patent does not affect the validity of a claim in the original patent, repeated in the reissue.</p> <p>The poverty or pecuniary embarrassment of a patentee is not sufficient excuse for postponing the assertion of his rights, or preventing .the application of the doctrine of laches.</p>