Shu-Conditioner, Inc. v. Bixby Box Toe Company, Inc.

WOODBURY, Chief Judge.

It may well be invention, even invention of a high order, to devise a smaller, lighter, simpler and cheaper machine to do the work of a much larger, heavier, more complicated and expensive one of the prior art. On the other hand, to achieve small size, light weight, simplicity and lower cost by the simple expedient of omitting a function of an earlier machine because some change in technology has made the function no longer necessary would, at least in the absence of very exceptional circumstances, be only a mechanic’s expedient. To quote Mr. Justice Brown writing for…