The Plastic Contact Lens Company, a Corporation v. George H. Butterfield, Sr.

ELY, Circuit Judge:

Each of the parties owns a patent pertaining to the design and construction of corneal contact lenses. Appellant, the defendant below and hereinafter called Plastic, holds the rights to the so-called Tuohy patent, Number 2,510,438. It is senior to that called the Butterfield patent, Number 2,544,246, owned by George H. Butterfield, Sr. As plaintiff, Butter-field was successful in the court below, and Plastic appeals.

The present dispute follows a long history of controversy arising from conflicting claims pertaining to the two patents and their scope. A part of the history…