March 2 0 , 1 9 3 2
I N D U S T R I A L
AND
ENGNEERING
Patents RAY
BELMONT
WHITMAN,
Patent
Attorney,
230
Park: Ave..
N e w York, Ν . Y . ELECTRICAL RECTIFIER P A T E N T VALID AND INFRINGED
HELD
A N IMPORTANT D E C I S I O N b y the appeal court has recently been handed down in favor of t h e Union Switch & Signal Company and its licensees, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, a n d General Electric Company. T h e defendant was Kodel Electric &: Manufacturing Company which manufactures and sells electric current rectifiers, used where direct current i s desired a n d alternating current only is available. T h e effective unit of the device consists of a copper disk or plate having cuprous oxide formed on o n e side by tne heating of the disk on t h a t side t o a temperature of about' 1000° C . T h e specifications state t h a t a t the juncture of t h e metal compound with t h e copper there is "a permanent set-up of particles per mitting a relatively free flow of electrons in t h e direction Ërom t h e copper t o t h e cuprous oxide, while obstructing the flow of electrons in the opposite direction." T h e suit was for infringement of t h e Grondahl patent N o . 1,640,335. On t h e trial below t h e court held Claims ΙΟ to 14, inclusive, valid and infringed, and granted the plaintiffs an in junction and an accounting for profits and damages, b>ut held Claims 1, 2 , and 7. a n d 15 t o 20; inclusive, invalid. T h e de fendant appealed from t h e decision on t h e first group of claims, and the plaintiff appealed on the others. T h e claims which were held valid and infringed call in varying diction for a copper member or plate constituting the cathode of the rectifier with cuprous oxide integrally united thereto over a relatively extended area, t h e junction between being utilized to pass current in t h e direction from the copper to t h e oxide more freely than i n t h e reverse direction. T h e first application for patent was filed in 1922 b y the patentee and another as co-inventor. Afterwards, the co-inventor's name was stricken out after supporting affidavits were submitted. In 1925, t h e patentee filed an application i n his own name claiming it t o be a continuation of t h e original application, and the Patent Office agreed and g a v e it t h e early filing date. T h e defendants argued that the disclosure i n the patent was in complete, since i t is essential to the utility claimed in the specifica tions that t h e disks b e cooled quickly by quenching, a n d t h e patent does not show this step. B u t t h e lower court held t h a t this step only increased the efficiency of the device and t»hat t h e disclosure w a s complete enough without it. T h e appeal court h e l d that Claims 10 t o 14, inclusive, were valid a n d infringed, since they cover t h e use of the copper plate with cuprous oxide formed thereon over a relatively wide area. T h e important point in this decision seems to be that internal boundary rectification as embodied in t h e copper oxide rectifier is held to b e covered bj^ the patent, a n d the Kodel Company is held to infringe.
C H E M I S T R Y
71
Werner vs. East Bay Coal Co. Dismissed with prejudice Oct. 1 , 1931. Re. 15,641, J . H. Emery, artificial fruit and method o i pro ducing same, D . C , S. D . Ν. Ύ., Doc. Ε 51/66, J. H. Emery v s . V. Radice et al. (Artistic Fruit Co.). Dismissed (notice D e c . 1 6 , 1931). 1,384,460, C . B. H a l e y , mineral oil emulsions, filed D e c . 2 3 , 1931, D. C . Del., D o c . Ε 940, The Haley M-O Co. vs. United Drug Co. et al.
Personalia CHANGE OF ADDRESS. When sending in any change of address, please also for ward information regarding position held, company or business connection, and class of products manufactured to AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 728 Mills Bldg., Washington, D. C.
R. K. BREWSTER, manager of t h e Port E w e n plant of t h e Hercules Powder Co., has been transferred to Wilmington, Del., where he will bave charge of t h e manufacture of blasting and electric blasting caps. W. H . DICKHART. f o r twelve years associated with t h e Bureau o f Chemistry o f the N e w York Produce Exchange, h a s opened a laboratory a t 189 Franklin St., N e w York, Ν . Υ., a s consulting chemist in t h e oil, fat, and wax industries. FREDEHICK H . GBXMAN, of Stamford,
Conn., lectured o n t h e
Joseph H. Johnson Foundation at Pomona College, Claremont, Calif., during t h e month of February, giving five lectures on "Électrode Potentials," and two o n "Color Photography.'' H. B . GLASS, formerly with Swann Research, Inc., Anniston, Ala., is now temporarily with the Wallace & Tiernan C o . , Belleville, N . J. E D W I N P. JONES, until recently employed b y the Victor Chemical Works, Chicago, 111., has become chief of the laboratory a n d director of research of The Champagne Paper Corporation o f France and t h e U . S. Α . , 3 4 5 West 4 0 t h St., N e w York, Ν. Υ . EDWARD G. M E I T E R , in charge of dust and gas-mask investi gations at t h e Pittsburgh Experiment Station o f the U. S . Bureau of Mines, has resigned t o assume charge of the newly established Laboratory of Industrial Hygiene of t h e Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Co., w i t h headquarters a t 8 0 0 Empire Bldg., Milwaukee, Wis. The March issue of the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine i s dedicated t o LAFAYETTE B . MESTDEL and called "The M e n d e l
Anniversary Number," in recognition of his sixtieth birthday anniversary. F R A N K H- MOSER, who received his P h . D . from t h e University
of Michigan in June, 1931, has accepted a position as research chemist with the National Aniline & Chemical C o . , Buffalo, Ν . Υ. GEORGE M . N O R M A N h a s been appointed manager of t h e D e
TRANSFER THE
OF P A T E N T R I G H T S O N CRACKING S O U G H T
UNIVERSAL O I L PRODUCTS Co. has filed i n the Circuit
Court of St. Louis a petition seeking t o compel Clifton J . Pratt to assign to the company patent N o . 1, 752,264, which is «directed to certain phases of cracking. The petition alleges t h a t t h e invention t o which t h e patent relates w a s made while Mr. Pratt was still an employee of the company a n d was bound by contract to assign it t o his employer. In the petition it is set forth that in 1925 Mr. Pratt signed an agreement to assign to Universal any inventions or improvements he might make relating to the treatment of hydrocarbons or apparatus for use in con nection therewith while in the company's employ and also to assist the company t o obtain patents on such inventions. It is further stated that in June, 1927, Mr. Pratt resigned from Universal a n d o n July 13, 1927, filed application, pursuant to which patent N o . 1,752,264 was issued to him March 2 5 , 1930. T h e petition asks t h a t the defendant b e ordered t o assign and transfer to t h e plaintiff all rights in t h e patent and to account for and pay to plaintiff all profits that m a y have accrued to h i m through operations under t h e patent. SUITS
1,825,598, H. Vogt et al., process for producing combined sound and picture films, filed N o v . 20, 1931, D . C , Del., D o c . Ε 925, American Tri-JErgon Corp. v s . R. K. O. Radio Picticres, Inc. R e . 16,825, M . H. Greenwalt, m e t h o d of and means f o r asso ciating light and music. C. C. Α., 3 d Cir., Doc. 4469, N. EL. Greets wait vs. Stanley Co. of America. Decree affirmed Dec. 17,, 1931. 1,274,480, O. F . Werner, fuel product and process of making same, D . C , N . D . Calif. (San Francisco), D o c . Ε 2954r-3, O. F.
velopment D e p a r t m e n t of t h e Hercules Powder C o . , Wilming ton, Del. Mr. N o r m a n is a director of t h e comrjany a n d h a s been head of the Technical Department, t h e divisions of which will now function separately. H, E . K A I S E R will supervise research a n d experiment, and G. E . RAM^R w i l l supervise engineering activities. T h e function of tne D e v e l o p m e n t Department will be t o examine outside companies, products, a n d processes, w i t h a view to broadening a n d expanding Hercules activities. A. H . R o s s , secretary a n d sales manager of the U . S. Bottlers Machinery Co., Chicago, 111., has resigned to head a production engineering and sales company under t h e name of A . H. Ross & Co., which will a c t as sales representative for U. S. equipment, with offices a t 121 "West Wacker Drive, Chicago, 111. The organi zation will offer production engineering service in laying out a n d equipping plants o r modernizing existing production lines. CORNELIA T. SNELIL, has been put i n charge of the laboratory for
pediatric research of t h e Fifth Avenue Hospital, N e w York, Ν- Υ. Doctor Snell was previously engaged in t h e food r e search department a t Columbia University under D o c t o r Sherman a n d since September has done pediatric research under I . G. Kugelmaas at t h e Fifth A v e n u e Hospital. H U G H S. TATLOR, chairman of t h e Department of Chemistry,
Princeton University, has been nominated for election a s FeUow of t h e Royal Society of London. I t is exnected that t h e formal election will take place some time in April. J. E N R I Q U E ZANETTI, professor of chemistry at Columbia U n i versity, N e w Yorlk, Ν . Υ., will represent t h e Chemical F o u n d a tion, Inc., a n d synthetic nitrate interests in the United States in a survey of t h e Chilean nitrate industry.
