by representing that the six bills of lading were all, POLLOCK C. B., CHANNELL and WILDE BB., and WILLIAMS, WILLES and KEATING JJ. concurred. 1862. DUTTON V. POWLES. Judgment affirmed. VOL. II. B. & S. HARWOOD and another, Executors of C. H. WILD, against The GREAT NORTHERN Railway Com pany. Action for infringement of a patent for "improvements in fishes and fish joints for connecting the rails of railways." The specification claimed "the constructing fishes for connecting the rails of railways, with a groove adapted for receiving the heads of the bolts or rivets employed for securing such fishes, and the application of such fishes for connecting the rails of railways." 1. The invention claimed by the patentee as his when applied to the pieces of iron used for holding together the ends of rails to make them for practical purposes a continuous solid body; had previously been known and used as applied to pieces of iron used for holding together the broad sides of pieces of wood, placed vertically upon one another, to make them for practical purposes a continuous solid body; but had never been applied for the purpose of fastening timbers placed end to end in contact with each other: Held, by the Exchequer Chamber, reversing the judgment of the Queen's Bench, that the alleged invention was a mere application of an old contrivance in the old way to an analogous subject, without any novelty or invention in the mode of applying such old contrivance to the new purpose, and therefore was not a valid subject-matter for a patent. 2. Before the date of the patent, a scarf-joint in a railway bridge had been fished by means of a grooved plate of iron running the whole length of the bridge, for the purpose of supporting its flooring, as well as for fishing the joint: but the iron plate was not used with the view either of obtaining greater strength with an equal weight of metal, or of preventing the heads of the bolts from turning round, both which purposes were contemplated by the patent: Held, by the Queen's Bench (sed Quære by the Exchequer Chamber), that this was not a prior use of the invention which invalidated the patent. THIS 'HIS was an action by the executors of Charles Heard Wild for an infringement by the defendants of a patent granted to him for an invention for “improvements in fishes and fish joints for connecting the rails of railways." The declaration was in the usual form. The defendants pleaded (among other things) that Wild was not the true and first inventor of the supposed invention; that the supposed invention was not, at the time of granting the letters patent, new as to the public use and exercise thereof; and that the letters patent were not letters patent for the sole working or making of any manner of manufacture within this realm, according to the true intent of the statutes in that behalf. Upon these pleas issue was joined. On the trial, before Cockburn C. J., at the Sittings at Westminster after Michaelmas Term, 1859, the following facts and circumstances were proved or admitted. By letters patent, dated the 16th March, 1853, the sole privilege was granted to C. H. Wild, his executors, administrators and assigns, of making, using, exercising and vending within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an invention for "improvements in fishes and fish joints for connecting the rails of railways," for the term of fourteen years from the 16th March, 1853, upon the usual conditions. A provisional specification was left by Wild, at the office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his petition, on the 16th March, 1853, by which, among other things, he declared the nature of his invention to be as follows:-" In securing the joints of rails it has been found advantageous to attach pieces of iron to side of the rail by means of bolts and nuts, and each such pieces of iron are commonly called 'fishes.' Chairs have been constructed on a similar principle to support one side of the rail, while a fish is applied at the other side, and secured to the chair by bolts and nuts. My invention consists in forming a recess or groove in one or both sides of each fish, so as to reduce the quantity of metal at that part, and to be adapted to receive the square heads of the bolts, which are thus prevented from turning round when the nuts are being screwed on." The specification in pursuance of the condition of the [1800.] HARWOOD V. GREAT NORTHERN Railway Company. [1860.] HARWOOD V. GREAT NORTHERN Railway Company. letters patent was filed by Wild, in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 16th September, 1853, by which he declared "the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the figures and letters marked therein." The fishes and bolts in figure 1 were described in the following paragraphs: "(1.) The fishes, F F, are made with a groove or recess in their outer surfaces, which groove serves to receive the square heads of the bolts, G H, and prevent them from turning round when the nuts are being screwed on or off. Washers, KL, are placed in the groove of the fish which is next to the nuts, so as to allow of the nuts being turned round; or the fish on this side may be made without the groove. The position of the bolts and nuts may be reversed if preferred, so that the nut may be prevented from turning round while the bolt is screwed into it. The groove renders the fish lighter for equal strength, or stronger for an equal weight of metal than a fish which is made of equal thickness throughout." "The top and bottom of each fish is a plain surface, and the parts of the rail with which they come in contact are also plain surfaces, forming the same angle as the top and bottom surfaces of the fish. The fishes are thus made to fit into their places with greater facility than if these surfaces were of curved or irregular forms. If, however, the surfaces of the rails are curved, the fishes may be made to fit them." "(2.) The central bolts, G G, are made of larger diameter than the extreme ones H H, as the strain is greatest upon the central bolts. Rivets may be employed in lieu of bolts and nuts if preferred. When three bolts and nuts or rivets are employed, I make the central one of larger diameter than the other two. When rivets are employed, the groove in the fish enables me to employ rivets whose heads are thicker, with the same amount of projection from the side of the rail, or which project less, with the same thickness of head, than when plain ungrooved fishes are employed. This is a matter of great advantage, as avoiding the danger of the flanges of the wheels of the carriages coming into collision with the rivets. I manufacture the grooved fishes of wrought iron, by rolling it between. rollers of corresponding forms, in a similar manner to that in which railway bars and other wrought iron bars are manufactured. The bars are then cut to the re quired length." The claim was as follows:-" Firstly, the constructing fishes for connecting the rails of railways, with a groove adapted for receiving the heads of the bolts or rivets employed for securing such fishes, and the application of such fishes for connecting the rails of railways, in manner herein before described. Secondly, the constructing fish-joints for connecting the rails of railways by means of fishes applied to the joints of divided or split rails in manner herein before described. Thirdly, the constructing fish-joints for connecting the rails of railways with fishes, secured by three or more bolts and nuts or rivets, of which the central bolt or bolts, or rivet or rivets, is or are of greater diameter than the extreme ones, as herein before described. Fourthly, the constructing fish-joints for connecting the rails of railways with grooved fishes fitted to the sides of the rails, and secured to them by bolts, or nuts, or [1860.] HARWOOD V. GREAT NORTHERN Railway Company. |