Rowntree v. Sloan

Citations

• 45 App. D.C. 207
• 1916 U.S. App. LEXIS 2672

Syllabus

<p>Patents; Interference; Right to Make Claims; Laches; Estoppel.</p> <p>1. Where the construction of one of the parties to an interference involving ,, an improvement in pay as you enter cars, calls for no division of the space inside of the door into separate entrance and exit passages, all persons entering the gate being expected to pass through a single exit entrance, and the portion of the platform intended as an entrance passage not being obstructed by any door but open at all times to passengers, his claims cannot be read upon the issue of an interference which calls for a passenger ear provided with a door and with means arranged inside the door to divide the space inside the door into separate entrance and exit passages; the “space inside the door” meaning space controlled by the door to which access must be obtained through the door.</p> <p>2. Failure on the part of one of the parties to an interference for three years after the grant of a patent to his adversary to make the claims of the issue, which he then copies from the latter’s patent, estops him from making such claims {Be Fritts, post, 211) ; especially where he fails also to comply with rule 48 of the Patent Office, requiring an applicant when he presents a claim for matter alleged to have been originally shown and described, but not embraced in the statement of invention or claims as originally presented, to file a supplemental oath.</p>