Burgess Battery Co. v. Coast Insulating Corp.

This was an action by C. F. Burgess Laboratories, Incorporated (hereafter called Laboratories), against appellee, Coast Insulating Corporation, for infringement of patent No. 1,726)500. Defenses were (1) that the patent was invalid and (2) that, if valid, it was not infringed. The complaint did not state which of the 25 claims of the patent were infringed, but the case was tried below and argued here upon the theory that claims 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17 and 23 were the only claims involved. Trial was by the court sitting without a jury. The court held that claims 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 and 14 were invalid, held that claims 16, 17 and 23 were not infringed, held that claim 4 was valid and infringed, and entered judgment accordingly. From so much of the judgment as relates to claims 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17 and 23, this appeal is prosecuted.

The patent was applied for by Ralph F. Norris on February 25,, 1929, and was issued to Laboratories (Norris’s assignee) on August 27, 1929. 1 It is for claimed improvements in sound-deadening construction. As stated in the specification: “Many buildings are found to have poor acoustics after being constructed. * * * It…