pioneer patent
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 298 U.S. 415 - Bassick Mfg Co v. R M Hollingshead Co Rogers · 1936Most cited · 307 citing opinions
There the patent was a pioneer patent and the combination was of elements which were novel and neither of which possessed utility without the other. Each element was necessary to the operation of the other. The invention did not, as here, consist of the mere improvement of one element of an old combination.
How often courts cite the case defining “pioneer patent”
Court decisions citing the opinion that defined “pioneer patent” — 304 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining case as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.