Evans Products Company v. Preco Incorporated

This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (now the Central District), which held that Patent No. 2,543,143 owned by appellant Evans Products Company, was invalid, and that it was not infringed by the accused devices of appellee Preco Incorporated.

Jurisdiction was conferred on the district court by 28 U.S.C. §§ 1338 , 1391, 1400(b), and 2201. Jurisdiction is conferred on this court by 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

Patent No. 2,543,143, the Wells patent, issued in February 1951, discloses a load divider or partition for use in trucks which transport livestock. The truck is adapted to utilize the partition by mounting longitudinal tracks along the tops of the side walls. A crossbar with rollers at each end is mounted across the width of the truck so that the rollers-rest in, and slide along, the longitudinal tracks. A pivot or swivel is positioned' under the crossbar and the partition is. hung from this pivot. The crossbar and pivot are designed so that the pivot may be run laterally along the crossbar. The partition is as wide as the interior of the truck body. The arrangement of longitudinal rails,…