Jan. 28: Patent Patentability SKH

Hotchkiss, A&P

Hotchkiss talks about the nonpatentability of a device which merely substitutes one material for another and the A&P decision restricts what can be patented to those things which are already known to prior art and says that combinations of prior art does not necessarily warrant patent protection, saying "commercial success without invention will not make patentability."

Citations Patent 4240272 is for an arctic canteen system including an insulated carrier with a cavity in the interior for the receipt of a small chemical heating or cooling packet, and a metal container holding "comestibles" enveloped in the carrier. The container sits in the carrier in physical contact with the heating or cooling packet. The packet produces a thermal change within the carrier and so warms or cools the contents of the canteen.

The objective of the invention was to provide a canteen system which includes a container insulated from the ambient and a chemically exothermic or endothermic generator for heating or cooling the contents of the container. It was also to provide a canteen system which would permit filling and repeated use of the system and to provide a container containing a non-vacuum carrier which would permit heating of the container without damage.

Patent 4549410 is an insulator for bottled beverages that creates a refrigerant-free insulator for maintaining the temperature of beverages in bottles. This invention is comprised of an outer shell with a bottom opening for receiving the the container and a top opening so that the neck ring of the bottle might stick out. The shell contains an insulating sleeve within it and a retaining ring around the bottom for supporting the bottom of the container.