Noah Haynes Swayne

“ Where an original machine and an improvement upon it are both patented, neither patentee can use what does not belong to him, without the requisite authority from the owner. The appellants having embodied all the ideas of Blake's invention in their machine, the value which supplemented it, whether good or bad, is outside of the case, and cannot affect the result. ”

“ The converging jaws, the revolving shaft, and the fly-wheel, are all wanting, as in the Hobbs & Brown machine. Instead, there is a cylindrical nut or pestle, having a partial rotary and crushing motion communicated to it by means of a lever attached thereto. The pestle rotates on a central axis within an eccentric concave. The work is done by this pestle. There is nothing of the vibratory motion of a movable jaw, alternately advancing and receding, as in the Blake invention.
The difference is not that of mere mechanical equivalents. It is radical, and goes to the essence of the organisms. ”

“ But inventions covered by other patents were embraced in those machines. It was not shown how much of the profit was due to those other patents, nor how much of it was manufacturer's profit. The complainant was, therefore, entitled only to nominal damages. ”