Duff-Norton Company, a Corporation, Appellant-Cross v. Ralph A. Ratcliff, an Individual, Appellee-Cross

At issue is the validity of appellant’s patent upon a lever-operated chain hoist. The District Court entered judgment for appellee, ruling the patent invalid. We affirm.

The court in its findings dealt at length with the prior art. It found that the claims in issue “call for a mere mechanical arrangement of known elements, virtually all of which are shown in combination in prior patents for both hoists and other related lifting devices designed to produce and which do produce the same results claimed.” It found the claims invalid for want of invention since they were obvious in light of the prior art, and for lacking novelty since they were anticipated by prior art. Claims 5 and 6 of the patent are representative of the claims in issue and are set forth in the margin.

Appellant attacks these findings, pointing to certain features of its manufac tured product which, it asserts, distinguish that hoist from prior art: (1) that its hoist is of greater efficiency and reduced weight; (2) that it is fully enclosed in a housing; (3) that the hoist controls are all on the housing rather than on the handle of the hoist; (4) that the hoist operates upon a mechanical principle new to the…