United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Sargent v. Burgess, 129 U.S. 19 (1889)

Sargent v. Burgess

No. 127

Argued December 12-13, 1888

Decided January 7, 1889

129 U.S. 19

Syllabus

Claim 3 of letters patent No. 223,388, granted to John M. Gorham, January 6th, 1880, for an improvement in washboard frames, namely,

"3. In combination with a washboard, a protector located below the crownpiece and between the side pieces of the washboard frame and constructed to fold down into or upon said washboard even with or below the general plane of said washboard frame, substantially as and for the purpose shown,"

cannot, in view of the state of the art and of the course of proceeding in the Patent Office on the application for the patent, be so construed as to cover a protector which does not have the yielding, elastic, or resilient function described in the specification.

The defendant's protector, constructed in accordance with letters patent No. 255,555, granted to Charles A. Williams, March 28th, 1882, and having no yielding or resilient function, and not being pivoted or folding down, after the manner of the Gorham protector, does not infringe claim 3.

In equity for the infringement of letters patent. The case is stated in the opinion.

Page 129 U. S. 20