Henry Billings Brown

“ Does it disclose a patentable invention? That the patent is for a process in manufacture, and not for the mechanism employed, nor for the finished product of such manufacture, is undeniable, and is so expressed upon the face of the specification.
The four claims of the patent make no reference to the mechanism exhibited in the drawings, and described in the specification. All claim an improvement in the art of manufacturing, and set forth in more or less detail the various steps in that process. ”

“ Obviously, the patent in question is not for a new device, nor for a new combination of old devices. It contains precisely the elements of every other belt pulley, and operates in substantially the same way. It is in reality a patent for a belt pulley which differs from other belt pulleys only in the fact that the rim and ends of the spider arms are ground off concentrically with the axis. Obviously, this is not a patentable feature. The claims state, in substance, that the belt pulley must be made in peculiar way, which is equivalent to saying that it must be made by a peculiar process ”

“ There is somewhat of the same obscurity in the line of demarkation as in that between mechanical skill and invention, or in that between a new article of manufacture, which is universally held to be patentable, and the function of a machine, which it is equally clear is not. It may be said in general that processes of manufacture which involve chemical or other similar elemental action are patentable, though mechanism may be necessary in the application or carrying out of such process, while those which consist solely in the operation of a machine are not. ”

“ It is included under the general term 'useful art.' An art may require one or more processes or machines in order to produce a certain result or manufacture. The term 'machine' includes every mechanical device or combination of mechanical powers and devices to perform some function and produce a certain effect or result. But where the result or effect is produced by chemical action, by the operation or application of some element or power of nature, or of one substance to another, such modes, methods, or operations are called 'processes.' A new process is usually the result of discovery ”

“ One may discover a new and useful improvement in the process of tanning, dyeing, etc., irrespective of any form of machinery or mechanical device. And another may invent a labor-saving machine, by which this operation or process may be performed, and each may be entitled to his patent. * * * It is when the term 'process' is used to represent the means or methods of producing a result that it is patentable, and it will include all methods or means which are not affected by mechanism or mechanical combinations. ”

“ Great difficulty was felt in its proper construction, but after full consideration it was held that the patent did not merely claim a principle, but a machine embodying a principle; and, in delivering the opinion, Baron Parke observed: 'We think the case must be considered as if, the principle being well known, the plaintiff had first invented a mode of applying it by a mechanical apparatus to furnaces; and his invention then consists in this,-by interposing a receptacle for heated air between the blowing apparatus and the furnace. ”

“ Thus, if it had been customary to make an article of unpolished metal, it does not involve invention to polish it. If a telescope had been made with a certain degree of power, it involves no invention to make one which differs from the other only in its having greater power. ”

“ It may be that electricity cannot be used at all for the transmission of speech, except in the way Bell has discovered, and that, therefore, practically, his patent gives him its exclusive use for that purpose, but that does not make his claim one for the use of electricity distinct from the particular process with which it is connected in his patent.' See, also, Telephone Co. ”

“ It appeared, however, that a fabric substantially the same in construction, and possessing virtually the same properties, had been previously known and used, and that the superiority of the fabric patented was due solely to improved machinery, or to greater machanical skill in the formation of the fabric, by which an excellence in degree was obtained, but not one in kind. ”

“ This claim was held to be too broad, and not warranted by law; the court being of opinion that the allowance of such a claim would shut the door against the inventions of other persons, and enable the patentee to avail himself of any new discoveries in the propr ties and powers of electricity which scientific men might bring to light. ”