The Patent Office allowed a combination
and issued a so-called "combination patent" deciding that the
combination (a) of a carriage with its body machinery and steering
wheel, with the (b) propelling mechanism clutch and gear, and finally
(c) the engine, made a valid patent.
With all of that we were not concerned. I believed that my engine had
nothing whatsoever in common with what Selden had in mind. The powerful
combination of manufacturers who called themselves the "licensed
manufacturers" because they operated under licenses from the patentee,
brought suit against us as soon as we began to be a factor in motor
production. The suit dragged on. It was intended to scare us out of
business. We took volumes of testimony, and the blow came on September
15, 1909, when Judge Hough rendered an opinion in the United States
District Court finding against us. Immediately that Licensed Association
began to advertise, warning prospective purchasers against our cars.
They had done the same thing in 1903 at the start of the suit, when it
was thought that we could be put out of business.
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