Burr v. Duryee
United States Supreme Court
68 U.S. (1 Wall.) 531 (1864)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
Henry Wells obtained a patent on an improvement to hat-making machinery. Though the patent was not invalid, it was later surrendered and reissued as two separate patents with amended specifications: one patent for the hat-making process and another for a hat-making machine. Henry Burr (plaintiff), the assignee of the Wells patent, brought an infringement action against Peter Duryee (defendant), who held a patent on a hat-making machine that operated according to a similar mode. The circuit court held that the expansion of claims obtained in the reissue of the Wells patent constituted an abuse of the patent privilege and that the process patent was specifically void because the innovation had already been made and was known to Wells. The court found no infringement and dismissed the suit. Burr appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Grier, J.)
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