CONSOLIDATED FASTENER CO. V. TRAUT & HINE MANUF'G CO.
383
CONSOLIDATED FASTENER 00. v. TRAUT & HINE MANUF'G CO. (Circuit Court, D. Connecticut. May 6, 1897.)
PATENTS-PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION-VIOLATION OF AGREEMENT.
A preliminary injunction will not be issued to prevent the alleged violation of a contract by the manufacture of a certain kind of article, where the affidavits show that It wlll be contended at the trial that the construction of the written contract depends upon the intention, to be gathered from the surrounding circumstances, and the conduct of the parties before and after execution of the contract, which questions cannot be satisfactorily determined upon the affidavits.
This was a suit in equity by the Consolidated Fastener Company against the Traut & Hine Manufacturing Company to enjoin the al· leged violation of an agreement in respect to patent rights. The cause was heard on a motion for preliminary injunction. W. B. H. Dowse and John R. Bennett, for complainant. Mitchell, Bartlett & Brownell, for defendant. TOWNSEND, District Judge. On motion for a preliminary in· junction. The parties hereto are manufacturers of lock fasteners and buttons for gloves, suspenders, and other similar articles. On November 17, 1893, they executed the following agreement, the statements whereof sufficiently show their prior relations: "Memorandum of agreement made this day by and between the Traut & Hille Mfg. Co., of New Britain, Conn., and G£'o. E. Adams, of said New Britain, and Jno. O. Knowles, of Providence, R. 1., and the Consolidated Fastener 00., of Portland, Me.: Whereas, a suit Is pending against Hewes & Potter, of Boston, In the U. S. circuit court, by said Consolidated Fastener 00., for Infringement for one of Its patents, for the use of fasteners made by the said Traut & Hlne Mfg. Co.; and whereas, It Is desired by the said Adams & Knowles to dispose of their patents under which said T. & H. Co. made said fasteners, and by said T. & H. Co. to dispose of its tools and all fasteners It has made or in the process of makillg, together with any good will it may have acquired in the sale of said fasteners herein mentioned: Now, therefore, It is agreed by and between said parties that a decree may be entered in said suit against said Hewes & Potter, and the said Adams & Knowles, and the said Traut & Hlne Mfg. Co., for the sum of one thousand dollars paid them by the Consolldated Fastener Co., agree to convey, sell, and deliver to the said Consolidated Fastener Co. the following letters patent of the U. S., viz.: No. 489.891, dated Jan. 10,1898, and No. 489,890, dated Jan. 10, 1893, both granted to Geo. E. Adams; all the fasteners made up and in process of manufacture (it being estimated that there are at least six hundred gross of fasteners so made up); the tools in existence for the manufacture of said fasteners; the dies for setting the same; the machines for setting the same, wherever situated,-together With all the said good will In trade connected with the sale of said fasteners. And the Consolidated Fastener Co. agrees, for said transfer, to pay the sum of one thousand dollars; and both parties agree to execute said papers, deliver said goods, and pay said sum, within ten days from the date of this agreement. . "Witness our hands, at New York City, this 17th day of Nov., 1893. "The Traut & Hine Mfg. Co., "By Justus A. Traut, Pres. "Consolidated Fastener Co:, "By Louis A. Douillett, Pres. ·'Geo. E' Adams. "Jno. C. Knowles, "By Geo. E. Adams."
384
81 FEDERAL REPORTER.
CONSOLIDATED SAFETY-VALVE CO. v. ASHTON VALVE CO. et aL (Circuit Court, D. Massachusetts. May 7, 1897.) PATENTS-INTERPRETATION-STEAM SAFETY VAl.VES.
The Richardson patent of .Tanuary 19, IS6\), for an Improvement In steam safety valves, properly construed, requires that the aperture in the ground joint, caused by lifting the valve, shall always be greater than the aperture for the exit of steam to the open air.
This was a suit in equity by the Consolidated Safety-Valve Company against the Ashton Valve Company and others for alleged infringement of a patent for an impro\'ement in steam safety valves.