Western Electric Manuf'g Co. v. Odell

This is a bill filed by the complainants, as owners of a patent issued on the fifteenth day of February, 1876, to Charles W. Lewis, for a design for the dial of an annunciator. The defendants demur to the bill, and raise upon the demurrer the question of *322the validity of the patent for want of novelty. The scope of the patent is best stated in the language of the patentee himself in his specifications. He claims to have invented a design for the face or dial of an annunciator, of which the following is his description:

“a represents the face or dial-plate of the annunciator, and is shown…