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301,696
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Jul. 08, 1884
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Saw-swaging machine
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David Donaldson |
Rock Island, IL |
The patentee was sued by William Lyon, the patentee of another saw swage, 321,376, issued 10 months later. According to the findings of the lawsuit the order of events was as follows. In 1882, Donaldson saw the need for an improved swage for circular saws, had some ideas and created a working model. Eventually he learned of Simon Kinney's swage patent of June 1883, 279,769, and did not proceed any further with his invention. Meanwhile, Lyon had his own idea for an improved swage, consisting of a movable arm holding the die or anvil and the tooth support. Lyon built a working model of his invention in March 1883 and then put a swaging machine into operation at Burlington Lumber Company in Iowa. In May of 1883 Donaldson ordered a swager from Lyon, which was delivered at the end of June. In September, Donaldson applied for a patent that covered Lyon's ideas plus some inconsequential ideas of his own. Lyon did not submit a patent application until April 1884. The patent office declared an interference between the two applications. After reviewing the evidence the patent examiner ruled in favor of Lyon, and that decision was not appealed. Lyon's patent application was approved substantially as submitted and a diminished version of Donaldson's application was approved. Both inventors manufactured their patented swages and then Lyon sued Donaldson for infringement. The judgement of the court was that Donaldson's machine unquestionably infringed on Lyon's patent. Donaldson claimed that he thought the movable arm was a well known idea but could produce no evidence of prior art, and it seems certain he learned of the idea from the Lyon swager he had purchased. Since his machine used a movable arm, his machine was an infringement of Lyon's patent and thus Lyon was entitled to damages. However damages could only be assessed starting from when Lyon actually applied for a patent. Lyon was making a profit of $50 per machine; Donaldson had manufactured 13 machine and sold 6 of them before the Lyon patent was issued, then sold the remaining 7. They sold for prices ranging from $60 to $85, making him a profit of $10 each, or $70 on the machines sold after the Lyon patent was issued. The court awarded treble damages because of the flagrant infringement and Donaldson had to pay Lyon $210. |