Alladin Plastics, Inc., a California Corporation v. Jerrold Stephan Co., a Minnesota Corporation

This is an appeal from a partial summary judgment entered in an action for patent infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition. The judgment declared the following patents invalid: Lalandre Patent No. 3,032,375, Avendon Patent No. 3,034,830, and Avendon and Lalandre Design Patent No. D-192,029. It also denied relief to appellant, defendant below, on its counterclaims for alleged infringement of Trademark Registration No. 736,402, and for alleged unfair competition. We affirm.

I

A patent may be declared invalid by summary judgment on the ground of obviousness ( 35 U.S.C. § 103 ) if it appears from undisputed facts that the subject matter of the patent would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art who was aware of such matters as were in the public domain. Walker v. General Motors Corp., 362 F.2d 56 (9th Cir. 1966).

Patent No. 3,032,375 claims an improvement in the manner of attaching removable legs to the underside of a molded plastic “bucket seat” chair. Each leg end is slotted and inserted in a socket having a slightly smaller diameter than the leg. The tendency of the slotted leg to expand holds it in place in the socket. We agree with the district…