Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

(12) Another improvement claimed on behalf of the plaintiff is that traverse of the film from the loading roller is from the bottom in the patented contrivance while it is from the top in Morane machine. I wonder if that would make any difference whatsoever and would constitute a distinct improvement. The learned counsel for the plaintiff, however, frankly conceded that the art of applying adhesive to one side of the film is almost the same in both the. apparatuses. He also admitted that the liquid based adhesive is used in both these machines. However, he has pointed out that the base in the case of Morane apparatus is a solvent which does not dissolve in water without the help of a Chemical and not water as in the case of plaintiff's machine. I again fail to see what difference would it make. In this context I may also add that Morane machine appears to be much more advanced in technology inasmuch as it has many sophisticated appliances and its mechanism is somewhat intricate. For this instance it has an automatic hot air blower for drying process .which does 'not exist in plaintiff's patent. Further, Morane has an electrically heated oil filled roller at the laminating point but the same does not exist in the plaintiff's machine. Still further Morane has got all speed variable drive motor for operating automatic feeder and speed adjustment. On the other hand the plaintiff has used a U-belt pulley for reducing the speed of the motor i.e. by using one big and one small pulley. Thus it would appear that the plaintiff's patent is nothing more than an indigenous combination of certain integers which form part of Morane machine designed to be a less expensive and cheaper apparatus. No doubt it may be termed as simplification of the apparatus to some extent but it is difficult ex facie to say that it involves an exercise of inventive step or inventive faculty. No doubt, he has produced a workable machine but it incorporates almost all the integers and components of Morane machine. So it cannot be said that .he has added a scintilla of invention, to produce the same. On his own showing, the plaintiff had to handle a couple of Morane machines which were not found to be workable in India and therefore, his services had to be secured by the parties concerned as a skilled technician to put the same in working order. It is thus no wonder that having tried his hand on Morane machines, he was able to devise an apparatus of his own by virtually copying the same process and making some alterations and adjustments here and there so as to obviate the necessity of sophisticated and costly integers used by Morane.