Thatcher Heating Co. v. Burtis

Citations

• 121 U.S. 286
• 7 S. Ct. 1034
• 30 L. Ed. 942
• 1887 U.S. LEXIS 2052

Syllabus

<p>A combination of well-hnown separate elements, each of which, when combined, operates separately and in its old way, and in which no result is produced which cannot be assigned to the independent action of one or the other of the separate elements, is not patentable.</p> <p>Letters-patent No. 104,376, dated June 14,1870, granted tó John M. Thatcher for improvements in fireplace heaters, are not for a particular device for effecting the combination described in the patentees’ claim, but for the combination itself, no matter how or by what means it may be effected, and, as such, are void.</p>