Dehydrating Process Company v. A. O. Smith Corporation

ALDRICH, Circuit Judge.

This private treble-damage action under section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 15, resulted in a directed verdict in favor of the defendant at the close of the evidence. Defendant urged a number of grounds. Only one, which goes to the heart of the matter, need be considered.

Defendant-appellee, a New York corporation with a factory in Wisconsin, is a national manufacturer of storage equipment; inter alia, a patented glass-lined silo, and a patented unloading device, hereinafter unloader. The unloader is a sweep-arm, installed inside at the bottom of the silo, which,…