US Supreme Court

“ Just as the band pulling of the candy produced a bundle of parallel fibers between which were formed air cells rendering the mass porous, so the mechanism of Dickinson's machine secures the same result. It elongates the candy, folds it upon itself, again elongates the folded mass, again folds it upon itself and repeats the operation in order. So far as this record discloses, no candy pulling has been successful which does not in some form by an arrangement of three or more pins show this in-and-out movement to pull and lap the candy, and no one had shown it prior to Dickinson. ”

“ Instead of having Dickinson's single stationary pin and two other pins which move relatively to it and to one another, the machine of the Langer patent has two stationary pins and a third one which moves relatively to both of them in an actual and rigid figure 8.
Taking the first claim of Dickinson's patent as it reads, one can trace every element of it in the Langer machine. We find there a plurality of oppositely-disposed candy hooks or supports. The candy-puller is found in the movable pin of Langer, and a relative in-and-out motion in the pulling process is palpably present. ”

“ All sales by any sheriff or other officer, by virtue of any execution or other process, shall be made at the court house of the county, except when personal property, too cumbersome to be removed, shall be levied on, which may be sold at the place where the same may be found, or at any other convenient place, and also, except where cattle, hogs, sheep, or stock, other than horses and mules, are levied on, the sale of which may be made within the usual hours, on ten days' notice, at the most public place in the neighborhood bf the defendant. ”

“ By these new devices the art of candy making has been revolutionized. Some kinds of candy which if pulled at all had to be pulled when cold, could not be pulled by hand, because it required more than man strength; but they are now pulled by power machines. The production of candy has greatly increased, and 90 per cent of all the pulled candy made is pulled by machine. Hildreth makes a half dozen different classes of machines which embody the devices of his own patent and others which he has purchased, but none of the model of Dickinson's. ”

“ The state law required appraisal before sale and a sale at not less than two-thirds the value thus fixed, both of which requirements were wholly disregarded by the marshal. The federal statute applying was the Act of Congress of 1828, c. 68, 4 Stat. 278, which provided that the forms of process, etc., should be the same as that used in the state courts. The requirement for appraisal of real estate and its sale at not less than two-thirds of the appraised value by a ministerial officer is much more important in protecting the rights of the judgment debtor than the place in a sale of personalty. ”

“ The presumption of priority and novelty which arises from the granting of a patent must have greatly increased weight when the claim of the inventor is subjected to such close and careful scrutiny under the stimulus of a heated contest. ”

“ The Court of Appeals bases something of its conclusion in this case on the alleged inoperativeness of the Dickinson machine. As to this, we find no reason in the record for disturbing the finding of the District Judge, with the working model and the witnesses before him, supported as he is by the finding of the Patent Office and the District Court of Appeals on extended evidence on this very point before them. It is not necessary, in order to sustain a generic patent, to show that the device is a commercial success. The machine patented may be imperfect in its operation ”

“ If we are right in this view, and the absence of any specific form for a levy in the section confirms us in it, then of course, a certificate of shares issued to the debtor and found in the custody of his agent or trustee is the proper subject of levy and sale under the section. This statutory method of treating shares of stock and certificates for them as the same for purposes of levy and "as goods and chattels" is not without parallel. ”

“ In 1897, the Pacific Improvement Company, a bondholder, recovered against the City in the United States Circuit Court for the Northern District of Mississippi a judgment for unpaid interest on the bonds amounting to $3,058.13. Execution issued to the marshal who levied on, and took possession of, the stock certificate in the Clarksdale bank and at public sale sold the certificate and shares to the judgment creditor for $100, which was credited on the judgment. ”

“ Public policy requires reasonable diligence upon the plaintiff's part, which we think the findings in this record do not disclose.
It is contended that claimant is entitled to recover after his reinstatement, although the office, which the findings show was created for the purpose of affording Norris a hearing, was immediately abolished. If the office was legally abolished, it follows, of course, that the courts cannot afford him relief. The power of the Secretary of the Treasury to determine the number of inspectors to be employed cannot be reasonably questioned. ”

“ A recovery for acts done by the defendant is the only one contemplated by the words "by him." The same is true of Rev. Stats., § 771, requiring District Attorneys to defend such suits.
No different conclusion results from the Act of February 8, 1899, c. 121, 30 Stat. 822. ”

“ Certain things must be changed. The officer issuing the writ of execution must be the United States clerk, the officer executing it must be the marshal, and not the sheriff, the name of the court must be different ”

“ A good candy puller might pull three hundred pounds of candy a day. The capacity of the large machines now in use is two and one-half tons each, and one man can attend to two machines. Thus since 1900, the art has advanced from a production of 300 pounds a day to 10,000 pounds, with the same labor. ”

“ Each case must be decided upon its own facts, and we are of opinion that the findings here do not disclose that exercise of reasonable diligence on Norris' part which the law imposes upon him as a duty if he would recover compensation for services in an office which the Government might fill with another, or otherwise adjust its service so as to dispense with the service of the plaintiff. ”

“ Section 161 of the Revised Statutes gives to the heads of the Departments the right to prescribe regulations, not inconsistent with law, for the government of their respective departments, the conduct of its officers and clerks, the distribution and performance of its business, and the custody, use, and preservation of the records, papers, and property appertaining to it. ”

“ Later statutes however recognize suits against collectors in such cases, and the plaintiff contends that they should be construed to create a new statutory liability attached to the office and passing to successors, as was held in this case, the formal defendant being saved from harm by the United States. ”

“ The work was strenuous and produced perspiration and uncleanliness. It was done with the bare hands, and it was impossible to avoid danger from eczema and abrasions of the skin of the hands. It was neither appetizing nor sanitary. ”

“ In the Langer patent, applied for in 1916 and issued in 1917, which the alleged infringement embodies, there is a so-called "floating puller," which is carried through a course of travel corresponding in form to the figure 8, and around fixed supporting pins arranged concentrically within the two circular portions of figure 8. The candy is pulled by the floating puller and alternately carried thereby around the fixed supporting pins. ”

“ Brady, 184 U. S. 608, a suit against a collector begun after the passage of this statute, it was held that it could be revived against his executrix, which shows again that the action is personal; as also does the fact that the collector may be held liable for interest. Erskine v. Van Arsdale, 15 Wall. 75. Redfield v. Bartels, 139 U. S. 694. But in any event the statute supposes a suit already begun against the officer in his lifetime. We need not consider the remedies against the United States. ”