John L. Rie, Inc. v. Shelly Bros., Inc.
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
366 F. Supp. 84 (1973)
- Written by Nicole Gray , JD
Facts
John L. Rie, Inc. (Rie) (plaintiff) manufactured and sold its patented candy-bag sealers, each having a collar and bridle component. Rie shipped its sealers in lots of 5,000, with each lot having an inscription containing Rie’s patent number. Every sealer in the lot was inscribed with the company’s name, location, and “PAT PEND” on the bridle component. The sealers came in various sizes, and the bridle inscriptions were visible with the naked eye, even on the smallest ones. Shelly Bros., Inc. (Shelly Bros.) (defendant), a candy manufacturer, used bag sealers, for a period, that had collar and bridle components similar to Rie’s sealers. Rie sued Shelly Bros. for infringement, seeking an injunction against future infringement and damages for past infringement. Shelly Bros. had already stopped using its sealer by the time it received notice of the suit and asserted that Rie could not recover pre-infringement damages because Rie’s bag sealers were not marked in accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 287.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Gorbey, J.)
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