William R. Day

“ The skin is put in in such a manner that the head end is foremost. The stiff hairs in seal skins point toward the tail, except at the lower part of the neck and shoulders. These parts are at the sides of the head end of the skin, as the skin is split open at the under side. At these parts of the skin the hairs point outwardly and backwardly and are the most troublesome to cut or pluck, as they lie down close to the skin when it is drawn over the stretcher bar. ”

“ In the case under consideration the respondents have dispensed with the fixed stretcher bar and have adopted a movable one, operated by an entirely different mechanism, capable of accomplishing a much larger amount of work within a given time. In the circuit court of appeals it was said to result in a double working capacity and product. It does not seem to us to be a mere transposition or substitution of parts; in the Sutton patent, the stretcher bar being stationary, there are several mechanisms used for operating the movable brushes and the clipping knives ”

“ This principle is particularly important when we come to consider the 'stationary card above the stretcher bar,'-an element of the eighth claim.
The anticipating mechanism set up in this case is the so-called English Lake patent of October, 1881. This patent has been the subject of much adverse comment in the cases involving a consideration of it. And it appears to have lapsed for nonpayment of taxes in June, 1885, and not to have been a successful machine. It may be the fact that the patent is not distinctly worded, and that the drawing and specifications are somewhat confused. ”

“ The latter are skins of French or Belgian rabbits, which, under the name of 'electric' sealskins, have been put upon the market, and have been largely sold and used as substitutes for the genuine sealskin. It is said that only an expert can tell the difference between the finished coney and the genuine sealskin. ”

“ American Fur Refining Company
Argued: March 17, 1905. --- Decided: May 15, 1905
The patent in controversy has been frequently sustained in the Federal courts (95 Fed. 474; 108 Fed. 82; 53 C. C. A. 2301, 115 Fed. 498; and 53 C. C. A. 161, 115 Fed. 507) , and its validity is not contested here. The question presented to us is one of infringement. The invention which is the subject-matter of the controversy relates to machinery for unhairing pelts, and particularly, and perhaps, exclusively, so far as practical use is concerned, sealskins or 'coney' skins. ”