Elizabeth v. American Nicholson Pavement Company (KyleR)
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Overview
- decided by District Court of NJ in 1877
- appealed from Circuit Court of U.S.
- Samuel Nicholson patented a method of constructing road pavement
- first patent issued in August 1854
- second patent issued in August 1867
- Nicholson sued the city of Elizabeth, NJ for infringing on his patent
- Elizabeth claims Nicholson's patent is not novel and was in public use 6 years before patent application
History of Patent
- Nicholson described invention to Patent Office in August 1847
- Nicholson constructs experimental patch of pavement in June 1848 near Boston
- Hosking's patent is the only one that could challenge Nicholson's novelty
- Hosking patent not published until March 1850 (foreign country)
Issue of Public Use
- Nicholson applied pavement to a public toll road belonging to the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation of which Nicholson was a stockholder and treasurer
- Nicholson claims the application was an experiment to test the effect of heavily loaded wagons and varied use on the durability of the pavement
- experiments are not considered public use
- this application constitutes an experiment because:
- Nicholson does not voluntarily allow others to make and use it
- pavement is not on sale for general use
- Nicholson kept the invention under his own control
- Nicholson is only attempting to perfect his invention before selling it
- the nature of street pavement means it can only be experimented on in public
- "It is not a public knowledge of his invention that precludes the inventor from obtaining a patent for it, but a public use or sale of it."
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