Grand Rapids Show Case Co. v. Weber Show Case & Fixture Co.

By the decree below the court) dismissed appellant’s bill charging infringement of patent No. 1,219,891, to Williams. The patent relates to store furniture consisting of sectional shelving or merchandise cabinets very similar in its general character to well-known sectional bookcases and office file cabinets. The detachable units are so constructed that they may be superimposed one upon the other, the stack resting upon a base to match and capped with a top unit in the nature of a cornice. As with sectional bookcases, a plurality of such stack units may be set up along the wall in close end to end contact and with abutting engagement so that when completed the whole has a measure of the appearance and stability of a single structure. To this extent appellant claims no invention. Such novelty, if any, as the patent discloses, resides in what may be referred to- as the “pilaster” unit. Plaintiff’s position is that, with abutting stacks as above described, the exposed joints are unsightly, and to give a more finished appearance Williams conceived the idea of positioning the stacks a short distance apart, end to -end, and covering the intervening space by means ofl a unit having in…