Vulcan, Inc. v. Fordees Corporation

BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Fordees Corporation appeals from a judgment of patent validity and infringement. The issues before us concern the res judicata effect of a prior consent decree and the doctrine of equivalents. Specifically, Fordees argues: 1) that it was not in privity with the prior defendant and is therefore not bound by the determination of patent validity in the consent decree; and 2) that devices it built after entry of the decree do not infringe the patent.

*1108The patent in dispute is the “Titzel” patent, granted to Titzel Engineering, Inc. on January 19, 1965.1 The…