Lane-Wells Co. v. M. O. Johnston Oil Field Service Corporation. M. O. Johnston Oil Field Service Corporation v. Lane-Wells Co

'This action was brought by ,M. O. Johnston Oil Field Service Corporation, hereinafter referred to as -plaintiff, for a declaratory judgment that a patent, No. 2,029,491, granted to W. G. Lane February 4, 1936 on an application filed December 20, 1932, was invalid. Lane-Wells Company, a corporation, the owner of the patent, -herein called defendant, by its counterclaim charged the plaintiff with infringement. The district court held the patent valid but not infringed and both parties appealed. Plaintiff appealed from the holding that claims 7-9, inclusive, and 11-14, inclusive, of the Lane patent were valid, and defendant appealed from the decision that the patent was not infringed.

. T-he Lane patent is for a gun type formation tester for well bores. The claims- in issue ón this appeal are combination claims. They describe a device to be lowered in to- a well bore to sample the fluid in the adjacent formation. The device consists of a gun mechanism for firing projectiles through the well casing, thus providing channels through which the fluid in the formation may flow into the well bore, a packer mechanism to pack off and isolate the section of the bore to be sampled and a…