UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE

SAKRAIDA V. AG PRO, INC., 425 U. S. 273 (1976)

425 U. S. 273

U.S. Supreme Court

Sakraida v. Ag Pro, Inc., 425 U.S. 273 (1976)

Sakraida v. Ag Pro, Inc.

No. 75-110

Argued March 3, 1976

Decided April 20, 1976

425 U.S. 273

Syllabus

Respondent's patent covering a water flush system to remove cow manure from the floor of a dairy barn held invalid for obviousness, it being a combination patent all the elements of which are old in the dairy business and were well known before the filing of the patent application. The system's exploitation of the principle of gravity to effect the abrupt release of water "did not produce a new or different function' . . . within the test of validity of combination patents." Anderson's Black Rock v. Pavement Co., 396 U. S. 57, 396 U. S. 60. Pp. 425 U. S. 274-283.

512 F.2d 141, reversed.

BRENNAN, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.


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