Case ID: dc_8/html/0520-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "Cartter, C. J.,", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

APPEAL FROM THE DECISION OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF DEWITT C. BAXTER FOR A PATENT FOR AN IMPROVED PORTABLE FORGE.
    I. An improvement described in the claim as “ the combination of the hearth-plate of a portable furnace with wrought-iron tubular legs connected together, all substantially as set forth,” does not indicate in any degree invention. It is simply the result of the judgment and knowledge which is expected of every competent mechanic, and is not patentable.
    II. The properties and advantages of hollow wrought-iron legs as supports for a structure being well known, to substitute them for solid legs in a portable forge is but the application of knowledge already possessed by competent mechanics, and does not require invention.
    STATEMENT OE THE CASE.
    This is an appeal from a decision of the Commissioner of Patents. The patent was refused in this case for the want of sufficient invention in the improvement. The invention consists of a peculiar manner of constructing the stands or supports of portable furnaces, with a view to the attainment of lightness, durability, and stability. These supports or legs are described in the application as made of wrought-iron tubes secured to the hearth by passing through it and receiving a screw, cap, or nut above the plate or hearth, so as to secure the same firmly. The application also states as follows :
    “It has been a common practice to make portable-furnace supports either of heavy cast iron or of equally cumbrous sheet-iron in the form of a hollow cylinder, the frames or supports in either case detracting from the portability of the furnace.
    “ The frame or stand of wrought-iron tubes is not only economical in point of construction, but is remarkably light, and at the same time more capable of withstanding the shocks necessarily received during transportation than the heavier cast-iron frames.
    
      “ I claim as my invention :
    
      “ The combination of a hearth-plate, of a portable furnace with wrought-iron tubular legs connected together, all substantially ás set forth.”
    The decision of the Commissioner was rendered October 21, 1872, and it is now here by appeal.
    
      Howson & Son for De Witt C. Baxter.
    
      Marcus S. Hopkins for the Commissioner.
   Cartter, C. J.,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The decision of the Commissioner of Patents is affirmed, and we adopt the reasons stated by him for our own judgment, as they fully express our views, and read as follows:

“ The improvement which applicant has made in portable furnaces — and I have no doubt he has made one — consists in supporting them upon hollow wrought-iron legs, whereby sufficient strength is obtained in the legs, and at the same time they are rendered lighter than those heretofore made of solid cast-iron. But the difficulty is, as the examiner says, that the improvement 'does not indicate in any degree invention.’ It is simply the result of the exercise of that judgment and the application of that knowledge (in view of the fact that wrought hollow tubes are used in so many analogous situations, where strength, lightness and economy of material are requisite) which is expected of every competent mechanic. In a less developed state of the art of making and applying tubular legs and supports, it is possible a patent such as applicant seeks might be legally granted, but not now. The references cited by the examiner are in point as showing the various applications of tubular supports analogous to applicant’s, and exhibiting his as barren of invention.

The decision of the board is affirmed.”