Aiken v. Bemis
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts
At law. This was an action on the case [Herrick Aiken against S. C. Bemis] for violating a patent of the plaintiff. The letters were averred to have been obtained May 24th, 1830, for “a new and useful improvement' on the saw-set,” and the infringement to have been made in A- 11. 1837 and 1838. At the trial here, at the last May term, before Sprague, J., the patent was given in evidence and described as consisting of a hammer, a shank, a regulating screw and spiral spring.
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At law. This was an action on the case [Herrick Aiken against S. C. Bemis] for violating a patent of the plaintiff. The letters were averred to have been obtained May 24th, 1830, for “a new and useful improvement' on the saw-set,” and the infringement to have been made in A- 11. 1837 and 1838. At the trial here, at the last May term, before Sprague, J., the patent was given in evidence and described as consisting of a hammer, a shank, a regulating screw and spiral spring. It is not necessary to describe either of them, except that the hammer was to be of iron with a steel point. Much…
1Opinion of the Court
WOODBURY, Circuit Justice.
It may not be amiss for the benefit of these parties, to notice all the grounds assigned here for a new trial, though we decide the question only on one of them. The cause relied on as to the damages being excessive, is not so clearly made out as to justify the setting aside of a verdict in an action for misfeasance. The case might be different in a suit on a contract, as there the rule of damages is more certain. Some of the data in favor of this large amount of damages in the present case, were rather loose, even for a misfeasance, but the sum given in this class…
2Cases cited12 opinions
- Coffin v. CoffinMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1808
- People v. Superior CourtNew York Supreme Court · 1833
- Fowler v. Ætna Fire InsuranceNew York Supreme Court · 1831
- Guyot v. ButtsNew York Supreme Court · 1830
- Vandervoort v. SmithNew York Supreme Court · 1804
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