Friday, October 17, 2008 John Deere patent case By Clint Fabiosa & Andrew Ong I protect
IN 1950, William T. Graham invented a device which was a combination of old mechanical elements: a device designed to absorb shock from the shanks of chisel plows as they plow through rocky soil and, thus, prevent damage to the plow.
Graham sought to solve this problem by attaching the plow shanks to spring clamps to allow them to flex freely underneath the frame of the plow. He applied for a patent on this clamp, and in 1950, obtained one. Shortly thereafter, he made some improvements on the clamp design by placing the hinge plate beneath the plow shank rather than above it to minimize the outward motion of the shank away from the plate. He applied for another patent on this improvement, which was granted in 1953.
In 1960, William T. Graham sued the John Deere Co. for patent infringement after finding out that the latter used his second device (1953 patent) in its tractor plows.
The Court ruled in favor of John Deere Co. and stated that the 1953 patent was invalid and that the John Deere Co. had not infringed upon it. The 1953 patent was declared as being insufficiently distinguished from the previous patents.
Graham argued that in the new design, the flexing of the plow shank was limited to the points between the spring clamp and the tip of the plow shank, absorbing the shock of hard objects on the ground in a more efficient fashion. The court rejected this argument and invalidated the 1953 patent simply because it served the same purposes as those in the prior art.
