H. C. Cook Co. v. Beecher, 217 U.S. 497 (1910)

H. C. Cook Co. v. Beecher


No. 659


Submitted March 14, 1910
Decided May 16, 1910
217 U.S. 497

ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

Syllabus

An action on a judgment obtained in a patent case is not itself a suit upon a patent, and the Circuit Court, in the absence of diverse citizenship, does not have jurisdiction thereof, and so held in regard to an action against directors of an insolvent corporation to make them personally responsible for a judgment recovered in the United States Court of Appeals for damages for infringing letters patent, nor in this case can the complaint be construed as making such defendants joint tortfeasors with the corporation in infringing the patent so as to confer jurisdiction on the court.

The facts are stated in the opinion.