A. S. Browne and A. Comstock, for appellant.

Howard Henderson, for appellee.

Mr. Justice SHIRAS delivered the opinion of the court.

This case comes here on appeal from the circuit court of the United States for the southern district of New York, whose decree dismissed complainants bill charging the defendants [149 U.S. 117, 118] with infringing letters patent of the United States, No. 203,604, granted to Charles E. Dobson, May 14, 1876, and letters patent No. 249,321, granted to Henry C. Dobson, November 8, 1881, both being for improvements in banjos.

The bill discloses that the several letters patent so as aforesaid issued to Charles E. Dobson and to Henry C. Dobson, by certain assignments in writing, became vested in the complainant, Catharine L. Dobson, and avers an infringement by the defendants, E. I. Cubley and George Van Zandt, of her rights under said letters patent.

The defendants, by their answer, admit that letters patent were issued, as alleged in the bill, to Charles E. Dobson and Henry C. Dobson, but deny that said patentees were original inventors of the devices d