Harry A. Toulmin's Wright Company Patent Litigation Volumes (MS-641)
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of nine bound volumes of patent litigation records for the lawsuits that the Wright Company brought against the Herring-Curtiss Company and Glenn H. Curtiss, Louis Paulhan, and Claude Grahame-White. These are the personal copies of the Wrights’ lawyer, Harry A. Toulmin, and the books contain many handwritten notes. The volumes date from 1909 to 1913. The contents include briefs, evidence abstracts, complainant’s and defendant’s records, testimony, and trial transcripts. Some volumes also include photographs and diagrams.
Dates
- Creation: 1909 - 1913
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on accessing material in this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
In May 22, 1906 Wilbur and Orville Wright were issued a patent for “Flying Machines” by the United States. Ownership of this patent became the basis for the Wright Company to file patent infringement lawsuits against other aviators and aviation companies.
The Wright Brothers, intent on protecting their invention, filed suits in patent courts for infringement against the Herring-Curtiss Company and Glenn H. Curtiss. They also filed suits not only in the United States but Europe as well. The Wrights also brought litigation against aviators such as Louis Paulhan from France and Claude Grahame-White from England. The documentation generated by the attorneys on both sides of these cases was voluminous, exhaustive, and complex.
The Wright brothers won their initial case against Curtiss in February 1913, but the decision was appealed. In January 1914, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in favor of the Wrights against the Herring-Curtiss Company.
Extent
1 linear feet (9 volumes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection consists of nine bound volumes of patent litigation records for the lawsuits that the Wright Company brought against the Herring-Curtiss Company and Glenn H. Curtiss, Louis Paulhan, and Claude Grahame-White. These are the personal copies of the Wrights’ lawyer, Harry A. Toulmin, and the books contain many handwritten notes.
Arrangement
The volumes are arranged alphabetically by title.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The majority of the collection was donated to Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University Libraries, by Don Roettele, a relative of the Toulmin family, via Walt Hoy, in November 2011. One volume was donated by Stephen Wright in October 2018.
Existence and Location of Copies
The content of most volumes is available online in CORE Scholar, Wright State University’s Campus Online Repository, at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/wright_litigation/. Also, Toulmin presented Katharine Wright with a set of Transcript of Records, Vol. I-III, which is part of MS-1. The online instance of these volumes is from Katharine Wright’s copy, not Toulmin’s.
donor
- Hoy, Walt (Person)
- Wright, Stephen (Person)
Subject
- Curtiss, Glenn Hammond, 1878-1930 (Person)
- Grahame-White, Claude, 1879- (Person)
- Paulhan, Louis (Person)
- Toulmin, Harry A. (Harry Aubrey), 1858-1942 (Person)
- Wright, Orville, 1871-1948 (Person)
- Wright, Wilbur, 1867-1912 (Person)
- Herring-Curtiss Company (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to Harry A. Toulmin's Wright Company Patent Litigation Volumes (MS-641)
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Lisa Rickey
- Date
- 2018 Oct 18
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
Wright State University Libraries
Special Collections and Archives
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton OH 45435-0001 USA
937-775-2092
library-archives@wright.edu
