National Sweeper Co. v. Bissell Carpet Sweeper Co.
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. Suit in equity by the National Sweeper Company against the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company; Decree for defendant, and complainant appeals. Appeal from a final decree dismissing a bill in equity for the infringement of United States letters patent to C. L. Baender, No. 1,138,437, issued May 4, 1915, for a carpet cleaning device.
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Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. Suit in equity by the National Sweeper Company against the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company; Decree for defendant, and complainant appeals. Appeal from a final decree dismissing a bill in equity for the infringement of United States letters patent to C. L. Baender, No. 1,138,437, issued May 4, 1915, for a carpet cleaning device. The court below held the patent void for want of invention a'nd the complainant appealed. The patent was for a carpet cleaner operated by atmospheric exhaustion, or partial…
1Opinion of the CourtLearned Hand, District Judge
(after stating the facts as above). The patent can succeed over Conover only by virtue of the position of the screen and of the wheels. To place the screen between the nozzle and the suction device was old in other forms of the art. It existed in Kenney, in C. J. Harvey, and J. J. Harvey. The only color for invention in this particular arises from the fact that these latter are not hand-driven machines, deriving their power from traction wheels, upon which their weight rests. As a new question, and without its subsequent success, we should have no question that the position of the screen on…
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