DRAIN V. BUTCHER & ANOR. 45/1936

flo. AS of 193b

H. A. Green, Gort, Prat, Me.

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA.

"REASONS FOR JUDGMENT.

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BUTCHER & JUPE'S PATENT EX PARTE DRAIN

STARKE J UDGMENT

This is a petition on the part of Percy James Drain to revoke Letters

Patent No. 15454 of 1933 granted to Edwin George Butcher and William Ed- rail and wheel

mund Jupe for improvements in railway and tramway/flange lubrication.The

grounds upon which the revocation is sought are that the petitioner was

the actual inventor of the invention included in the claims of the patent-

ees and that the Letters Patent were obtained in fraud of the rights of

the petitioner,

The evidence given in the case is somewhat volumnious but the facts may be summarised :- The petitioner was an Engineering Draftsman in the employ of the Railway Commissioners of New South Wales who had given some attention to the lubrication of the flanges of wheels and the sides of rails on curves in order to minimise flange and rail wear. In 1929 one of his superior officers directed him to design an apparatus which would eject oil onto the side. of rails. The petitioner experimented and ultim- ately designed an apparatus which is Exhibit "G", The nature and a gen- | eral description of his apparatus is set forth in a Provisional Specific-/|

ation lodged by the petitioner in the Patents Office in May of 1930. | "This invention relates to Railway Track Rails and consists of an eject- i

ing apparatus driven by the vibratory energy generated in the rail and track by the train or vehicle as they pass along the track,such apparatus peing adapted to eject oil or other lubricant on the side of the rail so as to minimise rail and wheel flange wear as the vehicle ran along curved tracks"