Davis-Bournonville Co. v. Alexander Milburn Co.

Patent 874,666.

LEARNED HAND, District Judge.

This patent was applied for on April 5, 1907, when the art was in its infancy. It is reasonably clear that the patentees at the time did not recognize the full value of their invention, but the fact remains, whether they did or not, that they happened upon a device which became the accepted form, which has displaced all others, and which seems likely to be the final tool by which metals will be cut under this process. As such the patent is entitled to much favor from a court, especially as it appears that for nearly its whole life it has secured the…