Zane v. Soffe

Citations

• 110 U.S. 200
• 3 S. Ct. 562
• 28 L. Ed. 119
• 1884 U.S. LEXIS 1674

Syllabus

<p>Evidence — Patent.</p> <p>1. A patent was issued June 23d, 1865, to one Jennings (and subsequently assigned to appellants), for an-improvement in self-acting cooks and faucets. The first claim was for a “ screw follower H in combination with the valve of a self-closing faucet, substantially as set forth, and for the purpose' described.” This screw follower was, a round stem “provided with a coarse screw thread or threads.” It projected upward through the faucet, and terminated' in a handle for the purpose of turning it downward to let on the water. At its lower end it rested upon a valve, which was supported by a spiral spring, the object of this spring being to keep the valve closed when the pressure was removed. It appearing that for ten or fifteen years before the date of J.’s patent B. had manufactured and sold faucets in which an inclined plane or cam was used as a means of producing the result upon the valve stem which was produced by J.’s screw: Held, That J.’s 1st claim must be- limited to a screw follower, and could not be construed to embrace an arrangement for moving the valve.</p> <p>2. Since the decision in Loom Company v. Higgins, 105 IT. S. 580, it is Held, That under a general denial of the patentee’s priority of invention, evidence of prior knowledge and use, taken without objection, is competent at the final hearing, not only as demonstrative of the state of the art, and therefore competent to limit the construction of the patent- to the precise form of parts and mechanism described and claimed, but also on the question of the validity of the patent.</p>