Principle
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
In the patent law^ the principle of a machine is the particular means of producing a given result by a mechanical contrivance.
Parker v. Stiles, 5 Mc Lean, 44, 63; 8. c. 7 West. Law J. 168.
The term does not mean a new mechanical power: none such have been discovered for centuries. That is a principle which applies, modifies, or combines mechanical powers to produce a certain result. Smith u.
Pearce, 2 Mc Lean, 176.
Where two machines or things are made to operate substantially in the same way, so as to produce the same result, they are considered the same in principle. Thus, where any of the mechanical powers, the lever, screw, wheel, &c., are used to accomplish certain purposes, the same powers being used, the fact that they are used in a somewhat different form to do the same thing will not constitute a difference in principle. Whether the mechanical instruments be larger or smaller, whether their action be horizontal or vertical, As to what constitutes the " principle " of a machine, see also Le Roy V. Tatham, 22 How. 132, and Tatham ».
Le Roy, 2 Blatchf. 474.