Talk:Reiner v. I. Leon Co., 285 F.2d 501 (1960)
Courtney
The original application was filed on July 24, 1946 and a patent was issued on January 18, 1949. An application for reissue was filed on July 12, 1949, on which the reissued patent in suit was granted on November 1, 1949. Before the date of the original application a number of patents for hair curlers had issued, and it is against the background of these that we must appraise the invention in suit.
We are of course acutely aware of the constant reminders in the books that the sale of a patented device is not alone a measure of its invention, and we accept that conclusion. Nevertheless, great commercial success, when properly scrutinized, may be a telling circumstance. It is idle to say that combinations of old elements cannot be inventions; substantially every invention is for such a "combination": that is to say, it consists of former elements in a new assemblage. All the constituents may be old, if their new concourse would not "have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art" (§ 103, Title 35). That has been the statutory definition since January 1, 1953.
The test laid down is indeed misty enough. It directs us to surmise what was the range of ingenuity of a person "having ordinary skill" in an "art" with which we are totally unfamiliar; and we do not see how such a standard can be applied at all except by recourse to the earlier work in the art, and to the general history of the means available at the time. To judge on our own that this or that new assemblage of old factors was, or was not, "obvious" is to substitute our ignorance for the acquaintance with the subject of those who were familiar with it. There are indeed some sign posts: e. g. how long did the need exist; how many tried to find the way; how long did the surrounding and accessory arts disclose the means; how immediately was the invention recognized as an answer by those who used the new variant? In the case at bar the answers to these questions all favor the conclusion that it demanded more intuition than was possessed by the "ordinary" workers in the field. The needs were known, but the purpose to fulfil them with that minimum of material and labor disclosed in the patent had not appeared; and economy of production is as valid a basis for invention as foresight in the disclosure of new means. In the case at bar the saving of material as compared to anything that had preceded, was very great indeed; the existing devices at once yielded to Reiner's disclosure; his was an answer to the "long-felt want." 8
Maura
We are of course acutely aware of the constant reminders in the books that the sale of a patented device is not alone a measure of its invention, and we accept that conclusion. Nevertheless, great commercial success, when properly scrutinized, may be a telling circumstance. It is idle to say that combinations of old elements cannot be inventions; substantially every invention is for such a "combination": that is to say, it consists of former elements in a new assemblage. All the constituents may be old, if their new concourse would not "have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art" (§ 103, Title 35).
It is not for us to decide what "discoveries" shall "promote the progress of science and the useful arts" sufficiently to grant any "exclusive right" of inventors (U. S. Constitution, Article 1, § 8). Nor may we approach the interpretation of § 103 of the Title 35 with a predetermined bias. 7
The test laid down is indeed misty enough. It directs us to surmise what was the range of ingenuity of a person "having ordinary skill" in an "art" with which we are totally unfamiliar; and we do not see how such a standard can be applied at all except by recourse to the earlier work in the art, and to the general history of the means available at the time. To judge on our own that this or that new assemblage of old factors was, or was not, "obvious" is to substitute our ignorance for the acquaintance with the subject of those who were familiar with it. There are indeed some sign posts: e. g. how long did the need exist; how many tried to find the way; how long did the surrounding and accessory arts disclose the means; how immediately was the invention recognized as an answer by those who used the new variant?
A claim must of course read upon the specifications, but the specifications, unless so declared, are only an example of what the claim is intended to cover; it is a species of a broader genus, else no claims would cover anything not literally described in the specifications.
Kevin
Before the date of the original application a number of patents for hair curlers had issued, and it is against the background of these that we must appraise the invention in suit. . On August 1, 1944, Leon filed an application for a design patent for a curl clip. 5
Thus, between the appearance of Goodman and application for the original patent in suit an interval had elapsed of thirteen years, the art had disclosed seven "clamps" for hair curlers; and the answer to the need for such a device had obviously been the subject of much experiment. How far any of these succeeded the record does not show; but it is apparent that the patent in suit has been widely accepted.ow far any of these succeeded the record does not show; but it is apparent that the patent in suit has been widely accepted. Reiner, one of the inventors, had been in a war industry, and had had no experience in women's dress or adornment. Braga, his associate, was, so far as appears, equally unfamiliar with the subject matter.
We are of course acutely aware of the constant reminders in the books that the sale of a patented device is not alone a measure of its invention, and we accept that conclusion. Nevertheless, great commercial success, when properly scrutinized, may be a telling circumstance. It is idle to say that combinations of old elements cannot be inventions; substantially every invention is for such a "combination": that is to say, it consists of former elements in a new assemblage. All the constituents may be old, if their new concourse would not "have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art" (§ 103, Title 35). That has been the statutory definition since January 1, 1953. It is not for us to decide what "discoveries" shall "promote the progress of science and the useful arts" sufficiently to grant any "exclusive right" of inventors (U. S. Constitution, Article 1, § 8). Nor may we approach the interpretation of § 103 of the Title 35 with a predetermined bias. 7
The test laid down is indeed misty enough. It directs us to surmise what was the range of ingenuity of a person "having ordinary skill" in an "art" with which we are totally unfamiliar; and we do not see how such a standard can be applied at all except by recourse to the earlier work in the art, and to the general history of the means available at the time. To judge on our own that this or that new assemblage of old factors was, or was not, "obvious" is to substitute our ignorance for the acquaintance with the subject of those who were familiar with it. There are indeed some sign posts: e. g. how long did the need exist; how many tried to find the way; how long did the surrounding and accessory arts disclose the means; how immediately was the invention recognized as an answer by those who used the new variant? In the case at bar the answers to these questions all favor the conclusion that it demanded more intuition than was possessed by the "ordinary" workers in the field. The needs were known, but the purpose to fulfil them with that minimum of material and labor disclosed in the patent had not appeared; and economy of production is as valid a basis for invention as foresight in the disclosure of new means. In the case at bar the saving of material as compared to anything that had preceded, was very great indeed; the existing devices at once yielded to Reiner's disclosure; his was an answer to the "long-felt want." 8
Goodwine
We are of course acutely aware of the constant reminders in the books that the sale of a patented device is not alone a measure of its invention, and we accept that conclusion. Nevertheless, great commercial success, when properly scrutinized, may be a telling circumstance. It is idle to say that combinations of old elements cannot be inventions; substantially every invention is for such a "combination": that is to say, it consists of former elements in a new assemblage. All the constituents may be old, if their new concourse would not "have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art" (§ 103, Title 35). That has been the statutory definition since January 1, 1953. We discussed the question at length in Lyon v. Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., 2 Cir., 224 F.2d 530, and have little to add to what we then said. There can be no doubt that the Act of 1952 meant to change the slow but steady drift of judicial decision that had been hostile to patents which made it possible for Mr. Justice Jackson in dissent to speak of the "strong passion in this Court for striking them" (patents) "down so that the only patent that is valid is one which this Court has not been able to get its hands on." Jungerson v. Ostby & Barton Co., 335 U.S. 560, 572, 69 S.Ct. 269, 274, 93 L.Ed. 235. That was in 1945, while the test laid down in Hotchkiss v. Greenwood, 11 How. 248, 266, 13 L.Ed. 683 still had a nominal authority, of which little remained in actual application. We still cannot escape the conclusion — as we could not when Lyon v. Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., supra, was decided in 1955 — that Congress deliberately meant to restore the old definition, and to raise it from a judicial gloss to a statutory command. It is not for us to decide what "discoveries" shall "promote the progress of science and the useful arts" sufficiently to grant any "exclusive right" of inventors (U. S. Constitution, Article 1, § 8). Nor may we approach the interpretation of § 103 of the Title 35 with a predetermined bias. 7
The test laid down is indeed misty enough. It directs us to surmise what was the range of ingenuity of a person "having ordinary skill" in an "art" with which we are totally unfamiliar; and we do not see how such a standard can be applied at all except by recourse to the earlier work in the art, and to the general history of the means available at the time. To judge on our own that this or that new assemblage of old factors was, or was not, "obvious" is to substitute our ignorance for the acquaintance with the subject of those who were familiar with it. There are indeed some sign posts: e. g. how long did the need exist; how many tried to find the way; how long did the surrounding and accessory arts disclose the means; how immediately was the invention recognized as an answer by those who used the new variant? In the case at bar the answers to these questions all favor the conclusion that it demanded more intuition than was possessed by the "ordinary" workers in the field. The needs were known, but the purpose to fulfil them with that minimum of material and labor disclosed in the patent had not appeared; and economy of production is as valid a basis for invention as foresight in the disclosure of new means. In the case at bar the saving of material as compared to anything that had preceded, was very great indeed; the existing devices at once yielded to Reiner's disclosure; his was an answer to the "long-felt want." 8
