Robert H. Jackson

“ Secondly, appellants appear to have misunderstood the true nature of what was done, for it was always within the power of the trial judge to establish the royalty rates, and, in voting as he did, he did just that. They contend that the judge should either have held a full hearing himself or referred the royalty matters to a master for such a hearing. We do not, however, think that in reducing the terms of a decree to concrete measures such procedures are mandatory. It is true that the procedure adopted below is an innovation in certain aspects, but novelty is not synonymous with error. ”

“ Appellants are left free to lease rather than sell if they can make a lease sufficiently attractive.
Appellants further argue that the method adopted by the court below for fixing reasonable royalty rates under their patent licenses deprives them of their property without due process of law. The court directed Besser and the Government each to select two persons to serve as arbitrators on a committee to establish fair royalty rates and the form and contents of royalty contracts. ”

“ The defendants below were the Stearns Manufacturing Company, second largest producer in the country of concrete block-making machines, Besser Manufacturing Company, the country's dominant producer of such machinery and substantial stockholder in the Stearns Company, Jesse H. Besser, long-time president and virtually sole stockholder of the Besser Company, and two individuals, Gelbman and Andrus, co-owners of certain important patents in the concrete block-making machine field. ”