Rohr Aircraft Corp. v. Rubber Teck, Inc.

This ease is one in which a decision is to be made by the Court on the elusive question of invention. The invention in issue concerns a fastener seal to prevent fluid leakage through the opening around bolts, rivets and the like. The seal in question is particularly useful in the aircraft industry where countless numbers of fasteners are passed through the skin and structural members of the ship.

In 1943, during the crisis of World War II, plaintiff Rohr Aircraft Corporation was given the urgent task of constructing integral fuel tanks in the PB2Y-3 aircraft. Prior thereto fuel for the aircraft had been placed in containers within the wings, and it was hoped that by developing a proper fastener the container holding the fuel could be eliminated with the consequent saving of space and weight. Plaintiff proceeded with the problem as presented and later obtained a patent on the two-piece fastener involved in this law suit.

Defendants or their predecessors were given the job of manufacturing the fasteners. Subsequent thereto defendants or their predecessors fell out with plaintiffs, lost the contract to manufacture the fasteners in question, and thereafter began the manufacture of…