Nathan Clifford

“ Derivation of the title of the complainant is fully set forth in the bill of complaint, but it is unnecessary to reproduce it, as it is not the subject of controversy in this case. Possessed of a full title to the invention by assignments, the complainant, as such assignee, surrendered the letters patent, and the commissioner, on the twenty-eighth of June, 1864, reissued to him the original patent, as extended under the act of Congress, for the residue of the extended term. ”

“ They were taken to the billy, and were there spliced by hand, on the apron of that machine, and, as the apron moved forward, they were fed to the spindles, and converted into roving, suitable to be spun into yarn.
Goulding aimed to dispense with the billy altogether, and sought to accomplish, with four machines, what had previously required the use of five; and the evidence shows, beyond controversy, that his invention enabled manufacturers to produce yarn from wool, at much less cost, of better quality, and in greater quantity, than was produced by the old process. ”

“ Patentees acquire, by virtue of their letters patent, if properly granted and in due form, the full and exclusive right and liberty of making, using, and vending to others to be used, their respective inventions for the term of years allowed by law at the time when the letters patent were issued. ”

“ Modifications were also made by the inventor in the devices of the carding apparatus of the finisher, and also in the apparatus for delivering the roving in the third operation, and for winding it on to the bobbins preparatory to their transfer to the jenny where the roving is spun into yarn. Those modifications of old machinery are minutely described in the specification, and it is obvious that they are of great value in accomplishing the final result, and that they constitute some of the main features of the invention. ”

“ Evidence to prove such a defence, in a suit at law, is not admissible without an antecedent compliance with those conditions, and the settled practice in equity is to require the respondent, as a condition precedent to such a defence, to give the complainant substantially the same information in his answer. ”

“ Jurisdiction of such cases is exclusive in the Circuit Courts, subject to writ of error and appeal to this court, as provided by law; but the requirement is, that the suit must be brought in the name of the person or persons interested, whether patentees, assignees, or as grantees, as aforesaid, of the exclusive right within a specified locality. ”