National Sponge Cushion Co., Inc., a Corporation v. Rubber Corporation of California

The appellant, owner of Harwin Patent No. 2,740,739, for Carpet Underlay, brought this action against the appellee charging infringement of its patent and seeking damages therefor. After issue joined, the case was tried to a jury which returned a verdict for the plaintiff. Thereafter the court granted defendant’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict under Rule 50(b) of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A., and entered judgment accordingly for the defendant.

The action of the court was based upon the findings of the trial judge that the claimed patent lacked novelty because of anticipation of its claims by developments in the prior art. By this appeal the plaintiff challenges the propriety of the court’s rejection of the contrary finding of the jury and its own finding of anticipation.

Plaintiff’s patent relates to a type of product which is used to underlay, anchor and cushion floor carpets. In this general area of product, such carpet underlays are useful in cushioning the carpet and making it more resilient. For this reason the main constituent of the underlay is made of rubber, usually foam rubber, because of its cushioning effect. The rubber serves to…