The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-13 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

A PATENT IN LAIIPS.—A patent case has been tried in.
:he Court of Chancery respecting the invasion of the
patent rights of a Mr. Parkes in a spherical lamP, which it
was:contended was invaded by Mr. Stevens, who last year
erected some lamps in Palace Yard, Westminster, ender
the orders of Mr. Barry. Mr. Parkes's lamp has an upper
half formed of six panes of glass, one of the six panes
acting as a door by being made to slide on a spherical
frame within tho next pane. In the defendant's lamp
one of the segments opened as a door, and the
lamp was globular instead of spherical. There
had been a former trial before Vice-Chancellor
James, in which the decision was given against the plain-
tiff, who appealed. The Lord Chancellor thought the
plaintiff's invention an ingenious one, and dismissed a
cross appeal which infringed the patent; but he held that
it had not been infringed. So far as the door was concerned

it could not be protected by patent, for the principle of
closing doors by means of a cylindrical apparatus was
thoroughly recognised before this patent was granted.
The appeal must be dismissed. No costs on either side.

THE LEATHER CLOTH COMPANY.—A suit involving some
questions of great importance has been heard in Vice-
Chancellor Malins's Court. The Leather Cloth Company,
brought an action to restrain Jean Baptiste Lorsont,
formerly a director and manager of the company from car-
rying on the manufacture and sale of leather cloth. The
special question was as to the validity of an agreement in
restraint of trade, without limit in point of time or space.'
The company was formed in 1857 for the pur-
dose of purchasing certain patents for the manu-
facture of American leather cloth, then vested in the
defendant and others representing the Crocket Inter-
national Leather Cloth Company in America. The agree-.
ment for the purchase contained a provision that the
parties, of whom Lorsont was one, should not carry on
the manufacture or sale of similar productions in any
part of Europe, and would not communicate the processes
cf such manufacture. The defendant, who had taken an
active part in thd affairs of the Crocket Company, acted
is managing director of the plaintiffs' company until 1863.
In 1868 he commenced business on his own account for
the sale and manufacture of leather cloth at Woolwich,
and issued advertisements and circulars describing himself,
is " Manufacturer of Crocket's Leather Cloth." This,

it was contended, was a breach of the agreement of 1857.
The Vice-Chancellor held that the plaintiff's case had
failed with regard to protection in the use of their trade
marks. They forfeited their right of protection by certain
misrepresentations. The other question of the restriction
in the agreement resembled the sale of a secret. A
man in puch a case might bind himself not to communicate
a secreact.py but the first purchaser. The plaintiffs
were right in holding that the agreement could be enforced
by the court, and there must be an injunction restraining
the plaintiff from the manufacture and sale of Crocket'a
heather Cloth. The plaintiffs would have costs except aa,
to the trade mark litigation.
FEVER IN ST. PANCRAS.—The owner of a house in Cam-
len Town has been summoned at Clerkenwell Police-court
i:or allowing overcrowding in one of the rooms. The soli-
citor to the vestry supported the complaint. One of the
sanitary inspectors found two adults and four children in
a back room 10ft. bin. by lift. 6in., giving only 144 cubio
feet of air to each person. There had been a great deal of
fever in the neighbourhood. An order was given that not
more than two adults and one child should live there for,
the future.

The Law 7 inws is informed that the attitnlion in,
Ireland, and the iormation of the two land tenuilyeagues
in England, for the carrying out of the same objeote here,
has already seriously affected the sales of estates, 4! capi.,,
ts,litos !Out rrhciant to invest !ErrrtytyllatuM
141014°4

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