Lunn v. F. W. Woolworth Co. F. W. Woolworth Co. v. Lunn

On June 20, 1950, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern Division, Annette S. Lunn, hereafter called plaintiff, brought an action against F. W. Woolworth Company, hereafter called defendant, alleging that defendant had infringed and was infringing a patent (No. 1,974,872) owned by plaintiff. The complaint prayed:

Defendant filed an answer to the complaint on October 12, 1950. Defenses pleaded were that the patent was invalid, and that, if valid, it was not infringed by defendant. On January 19, 1951, defendant filed an interrogatory requesting plaintiff to state which of the claims of her patent she would rely on as being infringed. To that interrogatory plaintiff filed an answer on February 3, 1951, stating that she would rely on claim 4 of her patent as being infringed. On October 8, 1951, plaintiff was permitted to, and did, file a supplemental complaint, alleging that defendant had continued to infringe plaintiff’s patent until September 25, 1951, and praying judgment for damages therefor. There was a jury trial beginning on October 8, 1951, and ending on October 11, 1951. At the close of all the evidence, defendant moved for a…