Sowa & Sons, Inc. v. American Hoist & Derrick Co.

How later courts describe this case

• calling the PTO standard “an appropriate starting point for any discussion of materiality”
• placing burden on party attacking patent’s validity on grounds of obviousness
• upon reissue in light of prior art before the district court, the "burden of proof of unpatentability has become more difficult to sustain”
• employee who declines to utilize grievance procedure that meets constitutional standards cannot claim denial of opportunity to rebut charges against him
• “We do not read the opinion of the district court as dependent upon the motivation of voters in this referendum for its decision.”
• the necessity of showing relevant market to establish a section 2 Sherman Act violation
• “the patent system ... is not an ‘exception to’ the antitrust laws"
• “patent rights are not legal monopolies in the antitrust sense of that word”