Bates Industries, Inc. v. Daytona Sports Co. And Daytona Products, Inc., and Paulson Manufacturingcorporation

This is an appeal from the granting of a summary judgment in a patent infringement action which held invalid a utility patent and a related design patent, both of which covered a motorcycle-type protective helmet with a pivotally attached flip-up face shield. The district court found that the patented invention was not really inventive over the prior art, but merely a combination of old elements which did not accomplish a new result. According to both parties herein, the district court found, in effect, that the helmet in question was “obvious” in light of the prior art (35 U.S.C. § 103). 1…