Blake, Moffitt & Towne v. California Fruit Growers' Exchange

Plaintiff, successor by assignment to the right granted one Crumrine by letters patent No. 1,099,-281, brings this suit, claiming infringement, and asks to recover damages and be allowed an injunction. The defenses of noninvention and absence of novelty and utility are all urged against the patent.

The invention concerns a combination of elements or parts designed to produce a fruit package in condition ready for shipment, where the fruit is left undamaged by the process of packing. The combination is used particularly, and perhaps exclusively, in the packing of citrus fruits — mainly oranges and lemons. In the packing of such fruit a wooden box is used. In the filling of these boxes, and in order that there shall be no looseness in the paek, the top layer of fruit, before the cover is fastened to the box, extends above the edges of the receptacle.

After a box has been filled, the cover is placed thereon and a press is used to force the fruit downward, in order to bring the cover in contact with the ends, so that it may be nailed into place. In this operation the row of fruit at each end of the box is apt to suffer abrasion, as it is forced past the edges of the ends and corners…