Jungersen v. Ostby & Barton Company/Opinion of the Court

The issue here is the validity of United States Patent No. 2,118,468 which covers a 'method of casting articles of intricate design and a product thereof.'

The patent was granted to Jungersen on May 24, 1938. In 1941, Ostby and Barton Company instituted in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, an action for a declaratory judgment that the patent was invalid and not infringed. Jungersen, by counterclaim, alleged infringement and sought an injunction. The District Court held Claims 1-4 valid but not infringed and Claims 5-6 invalid because too broad. 65 F.Supp. 652. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed on the reasoning of the District Court. 163 F.2d 312. We denied petitions by both parties for certiorari. 332 U.S. 851, 852, 68 S.Ct. 356.

In 1944, Jungersen filed suit against Baden in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, in which he alleged infringement of the patent and sought damages, profits, and injunctive relief. That court held all the claims invalid. 69 F.Supp. 922. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed. 166 F.2d 807.

Vacating the prior orders which denied it in the Ostby and Barton proceeding, we granted certiorari in both cases in order to settle the conflict. 334 U.S. 835, 68 S.Ct. 1496. Since the parties do not assert error in those portions of the lower courts' decisions which concern infringement, the sole issue before us is the validity of the patent.

The method described in the Jungersen patent, Claims 1-4, consists of the following steps: (1) The production of a model of the article to be cast, (2) the formation around this model of a 'primary mould' of plastic material 'such as rubber' which is 'capable of assuming intimate contact with the intricate designs of the model' and which will 'retain a lasting shape through subsequent treatment,' (3) the casting in this mould of a pattern consisting of molten wax or other mate ial of a low melting point which is made to assume the minute configurations of the mould by means of centrifugal force, (4) the removal of this pattern (which has become solid upon cooling) from the primary mould, and the formation around it of a 'secondary mould' of refractory material, such as plaster of Paris, which 'will assume all the contours of its intricate design,' (5) the removal of the wax or similar material from the secondary mould, or 'investment' as it is called, by the application of heat, thus melting it out, and finally (6) the casting of the desired molten metal into the cavity in the investment by the application of centrifugal force as in (3), above.

This method is capable of producing 'small metal articles, particularly articles of intricate detail such as jewelry which frequently are designed with hollows, undercut portions and perforations, so that they will have a smooth clean surface faithful in detail to the original and free from imperfections or holes, and to enable such result being accomplished with the minimum of expense.' The patentee claims that it made possible the accurate reproduction of intricate designs in far less time than had previously been required.

Claim 5 describes in more general terms the formation of a primary mould around the original pattern, the removal of the pattern from the mould, the introduction of molten wax into the mould 'by force sufficient to deposit the material into the depression or depressions of the primary mould' and the employment of the wax pattern for the manufacture of a casting mould. Claim 6 covers 'an article of jewelry' of intricate design made by the process disclosed by Claim 5. It describes the article of jewelry only by reference to the process by which it is manufactured. Obviously if the first four claims are invalid, the last two must likewise fall.

An examination of the prior art as it existed at the time of this alleged invention reveals that every step in the Jungersen method was anticipated. We think that his combination of these steps was, in its essential features, also well known in the art.

Jungersen's process is nothing more than a refinement of a method known as the 'cire perdue' or 'lost wax' process, which was in use as early as the sixteenth century. The Treatises of Benvenuto Cellini on Goldsmithing and Sculpture, pp. 87-89, reveals a process which consists of filling a primary mould with molten wax, building a secondary mould around the wax model thus obtained, melting the wax from this mould and pouring the desired metal in the secondary mould. In 1904 United States Patent No. 748,996, issued the Spencer, described a substantially identical process in which the primary mould was made, as in the patent here involved by vulcanizing rubber around the original model or pattern. In England a process similar to Spencer's had been the basis of a patent issued to Haseltine in 1875.

The above-described developments in the prior art suggested no limitation of their applicability to any particular type of casting. Spencer stated that the purpose of his process was to produce accurate replicas of the original pattern, which could be of 'intricate form' and which could 'have any number of sides or surfaces or undercut or projecting parts.' Haseltine described his object as the production of 'a casting in metal from a given pattern, which casting will be a perfect copy of such pattern without requiring much, if any, after finishing or chiselling work.'

The patentee claims that the invention in his combination lies in the use, in conjunction with the 'lost wax' process, of centrifugal force. Long before the issuance of this patent, however, those skilled in the art recognized and disclosed the nesessity for the application of force in order to make molten materials fit snugly the intricate details of the mould. Haseltine applied pressure of about twenty pounds per square inch to cause the molten metal 'to lie to the dense mould and produce a sharp and well-defined casting.' He accomplished this by introducing the metal into the mould through a pipe about six feet in height. United States Patent No. 1,238,789 issued to Kralund in 1917 teaches the application of pressure to the wax and the molten metal by means of an ordinary pressure die casting apparatus.

Whether these types of pressure are the equivalent of centrifugal force we need not decide since it is evident from patents and publications that the use of the latter was well known in the art. In 1923 McManus patented a casting machine which was adapted 'to the casting of jewelry, such as gold rings, small trinkets, etc., where metal or other dies or moulds may be * *  * filled by centrifugal casting methods.' United States Patent No. 1,457,040. He claimed 'a means for transferring fused material from the furnace (in which the material was melted) to the mould under the action of centrifugal force.' In a paper on current casting methods which he presented to the Institute of Metals in England in 1926, one George Mortimer, with reference to the difficulty in filling a mould by gravity, stated:

'It was natural, therefore, that engineers should early turn their attention to some form of artificial pressure, whereby the mould could be filled by force, and soundness and clean definition seemingly assured.

'The simplest form of artificial pressure is that of centrifugal force. * *  * ' Centrifugal force was commonly used in dental casting prior to 1938.

Thus it is clear that the 'lost wax' process, the use of a flexible primary mould, and the use of centrifugal force were all old in the art of casting. The patentee claims that the centrifugal forcing of wax into the primary mould had never before been combined with the other features of his process. We think this fact is of no legal significance. Where centrifugal force was common as a means of introducing molten metal into the secondary mould, its use in an intermediate step to force molten wax into the primary mould was not an exemplification of inventive genius such as is necessary to render the patent valid. Cf. Lincoln Engineering Co. of Illinois v. Stewart-Warner Corp., 303 U.S. 545, 58 S.Ct. 662, 82 L.Ed. 1008; Cuno Engineering Corp. v. Automatic Devices Corp., 314 U.S. 84, 62 S.Ct. 37, 86 L.Ed. 58. The patentee himself admitted that the same principle was employed in both steps. Thus Jungersen employed in his claimed invention well known skills and practices in a manner and for a purpose long familiar in the field of casting. His claimed improvement is therefore not patentable.

The patentee contends, however, that jewelry casting is a separate and distinct art; that consequently the advancements in other types of casting mentioned above cannot be viewed as the prior art in reference to this patent. The answer to this is twofold. In the first place, this patent is not restricted to the casting of jewelry. Its stated object is to 'facilitate the casting of small metal articles, particularly articles of intricate detail such as jewelry. * *  * ' Secondly we think that the improvements in the art of casting which were disclosed by the patents and publications discussed above were so obviously applicable to the type of casting sought to be effected by Jungersen that he was bound by knowledge of them. Mandel Bros. v. Wallace, 335 U.S. 291, 295, 296, 69 S.Ct. 73, 75, 76.

Numerous licenses under the patent were issued in the United States and other countries. The fact that this process has enjoyed considerable commercial success, however, does not render the patent valid. It is true that in cases where the question of patentable invention is a close one, such success has weight in tipping the scales of judgment toward patentability. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Ray-O-Vac. Co., 321 U.S. 275, 279, 64 S.Ct. 593, 594, 595, 88 L.Ed. 721, and cases cited in footnote 5 thereof. Where, as here, however, invention is plainly lacking, commercial success cannot fill the void. Dow Chemical Co. v. Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Co., 324 U.S. 320, 330, 65 S.Ct. 647, 651, 89 L.Ed. 973; Toledo Pressed Steel Co. v. Standard Parts, Inc., 307 U.S. 350, 356, 357, 59 S.Ct. 897, 899, 900, 83 L.Ed. 1334; Textile Machine Works v. Louis Hirsch Textile Machines, 302 U.S. 490, 498, 499, 58 S.Ct. 291, 294, 295, 82 L.Ed. 382; 1 Walker, Patents (Deller, 1937) § 44. Little profit would come from detailed examination of the cases cited above or those indicated by reference. Commercial success is really a makeweight where the patentability question is close.

Increased popular demand for jewelry or alertness in exploitation of the process may well have played an important part in the wide use of the patent. We cannot attribute Jungersen's success solely or even largely to the novelty of his process.

We hold all the claims of the patent invalid for want of invention.

Nos. 7 and 48 affirmed.

No. 8 reversed.

Mr. Justice FRANKFURTER, with whom Mr. Justice BURTON joins, dissenting.