Francklyn v. Guilford Packing Company

695 F.2d 1158 217 U.S.P.Q. 317 Gilbert W. FRANCKLYN, Plaintiff-Appellant/cross Appellee, v. GUILFORD PACKING COMPANY, John B. Lowman, Wilbur E. Harms & Richmond G. Harms, Defendants-Appellees/cross Appellants. Nos. 81-3291, 81-3340. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted June 10, 1982. Decided Jan. 4, 1983. David L. Garrison, Garrison & Associates, Seattle, Wash., for francklyn. Richard L. Phillips, Seattle, Wash., argued for Guilford Packing Co.; Charles E. Yates, Seattle, Wash., on brief. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Before WRIGHT, SKOPIL and ALARCON, Circuit Judges. ALARCON, Circuit Judge: 1 Gilbert Francklyn appeals from that portion of the judgment of the district court denying relief for patent infringement. 2 We are asked to decide whether Francklyn's employer, Guilford Packing Company (Guilford) had a shop right allowing it to manufacture and use copies of Francklyn's patented invention. In addition, we are asked to determine whether Guilford could transfer its purported shop right through a sale and lease back arrangement to a third party named John Lowman, and thereby free Lowman…