Case Name: FEDER v. STEWART, HOWE & MAY CO.
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1902-12-02
Citations: 118 F. 1015
Docket Number: No. 1
Parties: FEDER v. STEWART, HOWE & MAY CO.
Judges: 
Reporter: Federal Reporter
Volume: 118
Pages: 1015–1016

Head Matter:
FEDER v. STEWART, HOWE & MAY CO.
(Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
December 2, 1902.)
No. 1.
Appeal from a decree of the United States circuit court for the Southern district of New York holding invalid letters patent No. 29,350, granted to Harry Feder for a design for skirt binding. The opinion of the court below will be found in 105 Fed. 628.
Kenyon & Kenyon and Alan D. Kenyon, for appellant.
Wetmore & Jenner and Law rence E. Sexton, for appellee.
Before LACOMBE, TOWNSEND, and COXB, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
COXE, Circuit Judge.
The patent in suit, No. 29,350, was granted to the appellant for a design for a brush-edge skirt binding. In view of the large number of similar designs found in the record, it is extremely doubtful if the Feder design is sufficiently distinctive in appearance to be the subject of a patent. However this may be, it is manifest that, in any event, the patent, if upheld at all, must be restricted to the design there illustrated, and as so construed the appellee does not infringe. A purchaser of skirt binding, anxious to secure the patented design, would necessarily have to study it with reference to its minute details in order to differentiate it from the large number of similar patterns sold on the market, all having the same general features. Such a purchaser could not be deceived by the appellee's binding, where the staggered'line is found at the top of the heading, instead of being placed almost directly above the brush, as in the design of the patent. The decree is affirmed.