Kasser Egg Process Co. v. Poultry Producers of Central California

Appellant brought this action for infringement of two patents issued to Samuel F. Henderson, No. 1,174,008, issued February 29, 1916, for the art of preserving eggs by the application of a colorless, odorless, tasteless, nonvolatile mineral oil to the shell of the egg, and patent No. 1,177,105, issued to him for the art of preserving and sterilizing eggs. Appellant states: “Both patents relate to and cover methods for preserving eggs by treating them with petrolatum. In addition, the first patent also covers, as a new product or .article of manufacture, an egg treated according to the methods covered by said patents.”

We quote as briefly as may be from the specifications and claims of the first patent involved in this action:.

The second patent (No. 1,177,105) is for an improvement on the first, by applying the oil when heated. The specifications of the second patent largely duplicate the first with certain additions, a portion of which we quote as follows:

The trial court held both these patents void for want of invention. As the record is somewhat voluminous, consisting of 456 pages of briefs, transcripts, and exhibits, we can perhaps best state appellant’s position in this…