Wilson v. Calculagraph Co.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 1 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The infringement of this claim turns upon the fourth element; in other words, it turns upon the answer to the question: Boos the defendant's minute-hand mechanism embody ‘mechanism whereby the numerals-type and pointer-type may be separately printed upon a ticket?’ ‘Separately printed’ means independently printed. An analysis of the Hamilton invention and the language of the specification forbids giving these words any other construction than their natural and ordinary signification. Since-in the defendant’s minute-hand mechanism there is no separate printing of the gradations and the pointer, hut only the successive printing of all the dies, that mechanism does not come within the terms of this claim. Nor can these printing mechanisms be held to he the equivalent of each other, for the reason that the successive superimposed printing from both dies, which characterizes the defendant's machine, was the very thing which Hamilton not only sought to avoid, but which he must avoid in order to print an intelligible record. The originality of the Hamilton invention resides as much in his ingenious form of printing as in his dit», and no apparatus Infringes the claims of the Hamilton patent which does not have the essential feaiures of these two elements, or their mechanical equivalents.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Calculagraph Co. v. Automatic Time Stamp Co.

2. ““The scope of the real invention covered by these claims is narrow. If it were not that both sets of dies are driven by a single motor built upon the ordinary clock mechanism, it is doubtful if we could escape the conclusion that these claims are for mere aggregations. At all events, -these claims must be limited to independent sets of dies wbieb are independently operated by levers. Tbe dies in tbe defendant’s machine are so organized that they are not divided into independent sets, and consequently they do not require in their operation the levers of the Abbott patent. In the printing of the time of day dies and the minutes elapsed-time dies, the defendant employs a single lever. This lever by a movement in one direction operates all of these dies, thereby making the first imprint, and by a successive movement in the same direction again operates all these dies, thereby making the final imprint.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Calculagraph Co. v. Automatic Time Stamp Co.