American Junior Aircraft Co. v. L. M. Cox Manufacturing Co.

The court now decides the above entitled case, heretofore tried and submitted for decision.

The 2,292,416 Patent.

The court finds that the St. Clair plane, Exhibits A, A-l and A-2 is prior in time to the alleged Walker invention and that it was in public use, and plans for it were on sale more than one year prior to the filing of Walker’s application on December 26, 1940. The court finds that the St. Clair plane was made and used prior to the time that Walker conceived his alleged invention.

Every element of each claim of the 2,-292,416 patent is present in the St. Clair plane, except that St. Clair used a lever on the wings and 2,292,416 patent calls for a guide ring or rings. The lever is the full mechanical equivalent of the guide rings and the substitution of this equivalent by Walker would not void infringement had the St. Clair plane been patented. The lever on the St. Clair plane and the guides on the Walker devices have the function of giving lateral stability.

In the Walker devices, the wires pass through the guide and have a device for the attaching of the tether line. Thus, there is a continuous line with a joint in it between the plane and the holder of the tether…