Harold C. Pierce v. Ben-Ko-Matic, Inc., and Benjamin Kobak

This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon dismissing appellant’s complaint for alleged infringement of Pierce Patent Number 2,927,820 and adjudging claims 4, 5, 6, 7 and 32 of the patent invalid.

The patent in question, Pierce Patent Number 2,927,820, entitled “Street Sweeper Brush Winding Machine”, was issued March 8, 1960 on an application filed October 28, 1955. It is a machine for applying bristles to the broom cores of large rotary brooms used in street sweeping machines. Appellee manufactured a similar machine and this suit for infringement resulted. The accused machine, known as the Ben-Ko-Matic, was invented by Benjamin Kobak and is the subject of patent Number 2,937,900 issued May 24, 1960, on application filed August 21, 1957, and patent Number 2,938,750, issued May 31, 1960, on application filed July 16, 1958.

The issues as framed by the pre-trial order and tried in the trial court included the validity iand infringements of claims 4, 5, 6, 7 and 32 of the Pierce Patent.

The trial court held appellant’s patent Number 2,927,820 invalid for lack of invention. We agree.

Among other things the trial court found…