UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
HOFF V. IRON CLAD MFG. CO., 139 U. S. 326 (1891)
139 U. S. 326U.S. Supreme Court
Hoff v. Iron Clad Mfg. Co., 139 U.S. 326 (1891)
Hoff v. Iron Clad Manufacturing Company
No. 225
Argued March 18, 1891
Decided March 30, 1891
139 U.S. 326
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED
STATES FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
Syllabus
In view of the previous state of the art, the first claim in letters patent No. 279,871, issued June 19, 1883, to Charles Hoff of Cincinnati for an improvement in coal hods, must be limited to the entire bottom of the crimped material and the resultant increase in its thickness, and, being so limited, it is not infringed by a coal hod made after letters patent No. 304,033, granted August 26, 1884, to Henry S. Reynolds.
Whether both patents were not void for want of novelty, quaere.