Hunter Douglas Corporation v. Lando Products, Inc., Lando Products, Inc. v. Hunter Douglas Corporation

Strong almost to the point of vehemence is the expression “clearly erroneous”. An appellate court should bear this in mind when it applies Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A., which provides that “In all actions tried upon the facts without a jury * * * [¶] hidings of fact shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous, and due regard shall be given to the opportunity of the trial court to judge of the credibility of the witnesses.”

Too often appellate courts give only lip-service to the rule that, “Having seen and heard the witnesses, the trial judge is in a better position than an appellate court to pass upon the facts.” Too often reviewing tribunals are tempted to substitute their own fact-judgments for those of the courts of first instance.

This is a pit into which this Court, with more or less success, has always endeavored not to fall. In the instant case, it is somewhat easier to avoid the snare, since we are inclined to agree with the findings of the trial court.

1. Statement of the Case

When this case was previously before us we affirmed that part of the judgment holding invalid a patent involved in the action, and vacated that portion of…