Full opinion text
ORDER MATTHEW J. PERRY, Jr., District Judge. Plaintiff AB Iro (hereinafter Iro), a corporation of Sweden, is the owner by assignment (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 8) of United States Patent No. 3,796,386 (P. Exh. 1), which issued on March 12, 1974, to Karl Tannert, a citizen of West Germany. Iro brought this action against Otex, Inc. (hereinafter Otex), a corporation of South Carolina, and Roj Electrotex s.p.a., (hereinafter Roj), a corporation of Italy, for infringement of the Tannert patent. Plaintiff Iro initiated this action in October, 1977. Subsequently, Roj and Otex filed a counterclaim against Iro and Iro’s United States distributor, Wesco Division of the Torrington Company (hereinafter Wesco), alleging numerous antitrust violations. Wesco was joined in the action as an involuntary plaintiff. Trial was held on December 3 through 7, 1979. Subsequently, the Court has received from all parties voluminous briefs arguing the various positions. The contentions of the parties can be grouped under three general headings: (1) Defendants’ claims that the Tannert patent is invalid because of obviousness; (2) Plaintiffs’ claims that the defendants, by manufacturing and marketing the West 840 and West 1000 model yarn feeders, have infringed the Tannert patent, U.S. Patent 3,796,386; and (3) defendants’ counterclaims that the plaintiffs by bringing their action, have violated sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1 & 2. In like manner, this opinion consists of three parts, the first addressing the question of obviousness, the second dealing with infringement, and a third dealing with the antitrust counterclaim. I. VALIDITY OF THE TANNERT PATENT At the outset, I confess no expertise in the field of patent law, and further acknowledge that this is an area which demands considerable expertise. In order to make my course of reasoning clear, I will include matters which patent experts may consider obvious. The disdain of the experts notwithstanding, I prefer the cautious course of reciting the obvious, in the hope of resolving the complex questions this case raises. To begin, the Tannert patent, U.S. Patent 3,796,386, the subject of this case, is embodied in a documentary exhibit, plaintiffs’ Exhibit 1, which consists of 18 sheets, contained fifteen intimidatingly technical drawings, or “figures,” followed by a 22-col-umn written explanation of the invention. Beginning at column 16, line 48 are 41 Claims of the patent, that is, to quote the jargon of the exhibit “what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States.” It is the plaintiffs’ contention that the West 840 and West 1000 yarn feeders infringe Claims 1, 9, 10, 11, 12, 28 and 39 of the Tannert patent. Defending against this claim, the defendants press two arguments: obviousness and noninfringement. In order to explain these claims and defenses, it is necessary that I undertake an admittedly lengthy discussion of yarn feeders and patents. A. THE DISCLOSURE OF THE TANNERT PATENT. The specification and drawings of the Tannert patent (P. Exh. 1) disclose a “Thread Feeder for Textile Machines.” The specification of the Tannert patent at col. 1, lines 10-25 describes the type of thread feeders which the inventions of the patent in suit comprise. Such thread feeders are described as devices which are disposed between a thread storage spool (or the like) and an operating point of a textile weaving or knitting machine. Such thread feeders have a coiling or winding body, sometimes referred to as a drum. The feeder withdraws thread from the storage spool and coils, that is, winds the thread onto the stationary winding body. The feeder includes means for moving the thread coils along the length of the winding body. The textile weaving machine takes thread from the winding body as it needs thread by pulling it off overhead; i.e., over one end of the winding body. With a weaving machine, the thread is withdrawn by the weaving machine in a rapidly varying pattern alternatingly withdrawing thread and not withdrawing thread. As the specification points out, such apparatus is generally known and the primary purpose of it is to eliminate variations and fluctuations in tension caused by different factors such as thread size, coil size, and the like. The end result is to enable the textile machine to receive thread at a continuous, although not necessarily constant, rate without problems occasioned by tension variation, thread breakage, and depletion of the storage spool of thread. For example, when a storage spool has been emptied a sensing device turns the textile machine off. There is a normal momentary delay until the machine actually stops. The presence of a number of thread turns in the coil store on the thread feeder during this momentary delay enables the textile machine to continue for that moment without damaged fabric being produced. Conventionally the thread is initially taken from the supply package by a rotating element on the thread feeder. In one basic variation of prior art thread feeders (rotating drum feeders) the winding body is the rotating element. It rotates and, in effect, wraps itself in a coil of thread withdrawn from the thread source. An alternative basic variation of prior art thread feeders utilizes a non-rotating winding body and a rotating arm or cage encircling the winding body. In this prior art device it is the rotating arm or cage which withdraws thread from the storage spool and coils it onto the winding body. In either case the coil turns are laid onto the winding body at one end of the body in a fixed location relative to the axis of the body and then are moved down the body toward its other end, as more thread turns are added. As the Tannert specification points out at col. 1, lines 21-25 (P.Exh. 1), thread feeders are conventionally provided with some means for axially displacing the coil progressively along the winding body. Thread is then pulled off “overhead”, i.e., “over ... (the other) end” of the winding body by the weaving machine as it uses thread, as pointed out at col. 1, lines 24-25, of the specification (P.Exh. 1). As it does so the coil store on the winding body is depleted from that end. As is necessary, means are provided to start the coiling operation each time the coil store is depleted to a certain minimum length along the winding body and stop the coiling operation again when the coil store reaches a certain maximum length along the winding body. By the very nature of the thread feeder construction thought necessary for many years, regardless of whether a rotating or non-rotating drum was employed, it was impossible to employ simple and inexpensive, yet accurate and maintenance free, internal thread coil store length measuring devices. The Tannert patent thread feeder invention eliminates the problems inherent in rotating body feeders by employing a non-rotating body. It also eliminates the problems of complexity, expense, and lack of reliability which was thought to be inherent in non-rotating bodies, as the Tannert patent specification points out at col. 1, lines 51-53 (P.Exh. 1). The specification of the Tannert patent points out at col. 1, lines 54-67 (P.Exh. 1), that the solution is achieved by assembling thread feeder in a way not contemplated before. First, the coiling body was rigidly mounted on the chassis of the thread feeder so that no complex magnet or weight imbalance system or the like had to be employed to keep the winding body stationary. A stationary drum allowed the use of a simple coil-store length sensing device, a simple mechanical feeler, for example, having a direct connection, without rotating contacts, to the power source for driving a thread laying guide. The rotating thread laying guide was moved to the opposite end of the winding body from that which the prior art had taught; i.e., the end of the winding body toward the weaving machine rather than the end facing the thread storage spool. Thread was then run from the thread storage spool through the center of the winding body and radially outwardly to the thread laying guide (as shown as Embodiment A, pictured below in figure 1, taken from the Tannert patent file, P.Exh. 1), or through a cage-like extension or arm of the thread laying guide and then radially inwardly to the winding body (as shown as Embodiment B, pictured below in figure 2, taken from P.Exh. 1). Thread would then be layed onto the coiling body at the end opposite the storage spool from which it was being withdrawn and would progressively move axially along the winding body toward the end facing the thread storage spool. From this other end the thread would be stripped axially off the winding body in the manner of a spin casting reel paying out fishing line. In embodiment A this stripping would take place axially back in the direction of the one end of the winding body or drum directly toward the weaving machine operating point. In embodiment B the thread is stripped axially away from the smaller end of the winding body, the direction of travel would then reverse and the thread would go axially through the fixed winding body toward the weaving machine. (As in embodiment A, the thread travels through the shaft moving away from the source, toward the weaving machine; the coil store travels away from the weaving machine and toward the thread source). The specification of the Tannert patent goes on to explain at col. 2, lines 1-9, that the use of either of embodiment A or embodiment B thread feeders, with a winding body or drum rigidly and stationarily mounted on the thread feeder chassis, permits using a simple and inexpensive, yet positively acting and reliable, control means for the coil laying drive wherein the control means operates the thread laying guide as a function of the length of the coil store. The advance noted here is the simplicity, low cost, and reliability of a system which controls thread coiling by sensing the length of the coil store. Such systems in more complex form had been available in the prior art as the specification acknowledges at col. 1, lines 45 — 47. The specification then summarizes at col. 2, lines 15-39, by describing the generic combination of the thread feeder invented by Tannert in broad terms under the heading SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION. A thread feeder combination is provided, as indicated at col. 2, lines 15-22 of the specification. Its winding body is stationary and coils wound on the body are shifted axially along it, as pointed out at col. 2, lines 22-27, the stationary body permits of the use of a simple sensing means to control the amount of thread coiled on the body, as pointed out at col. 2, lines 28-33. To achieve the stationary body the thread passes through the axial center of the winding body in a direction opposite the coil movement along the body, as further pointed out at col. 2, lines 33-38. Figures 1 and 2 show the two basic embodiments of the Tannert patent. In some ways, these are two very different devices: the thread paths are, in effect, the reverse of each other. In Embodiment A (figure 1), the thread (101-101-a) travels through the center shaft, moving from left to right in the figure, is wound onto the tapered surface (21), with the coils of thread gradually pushing one another along the drum (2) from the right back to the left. The thread is then stripped off the outside of the machine. In Embodiment B, the thread (101) is brought to the tapered surface (21) on the outside of the machine. As in Embodiment A, however, the coils again move from right to left, that is opposite the initial direction of the thread path. When the thread coils are stripped off the drum, the thread is pulled through the center shaft. Although the two Embodiments are different, the claims of the Tannert patent— that is, those features which Karl Tannert, and now plaintiff Iro as his assignee, (See Assignment of U.S. Patent 3,796,386, from Karl Tannert to AB Iro, 11 July 1977, P.Exh. 3) contend are the patented invention — apply equally to both Embodiments. Further, the comparison of these claims to the feature of the West 840 and West 1000 thread feeders show that these machines combine features found in Embodiment B and in a variation of Embodiment A (Embodiment A2). It is therefore necessary to discuss the features found in each of the basic embodiments. Embodiment A of the storage feeder invention claimed is illustrated in Figure 1 and described in col. 4, line 22 — col. 6, line 63, of the specification. At col. 4, lines 22-30, the specification states that the feeder comprises a housing (1) illustrated in sectional view which is mounted on a weaving machine, the weaving machine itself not being shown. The feeder is designed to take thread from a storage spool 100 and transmit that thread to a weaving machine to the right of the feeder in Figure 1. At col. 4, lines 30-41, there is described cylindrical thread winding body (2) secured to the housing (1). At its right end the winding body (2) has an integrally formed, tapered thread feed lip (21). The winding body (2) has a hollow bore extending axially through it from end to end and hollow shaft (3) is rotatable in that bore. The shaft has a drive pulley (4) secured to its drive (left) end and a thread feed rotor (5) secured to its head (right) end. The drive pulley, and with it the shaft (3), is rotated by a belt (41) from a suitable belt drive (411), a conventional electric motor. At col. 4, lines 42 — col. 5, line 2, the specification describes the rotor (5) which serves to wind the thread onto the winding body (2). The rotor includes a hub (unnumbered) on the shaft. A thin conical disk (unnumbered) extends radially outwardly of the hub and terminates in an annular hood (51). The annular edge of the hood on the left in Figure 1 is turned radially inwardly so that it covers at least a portion of the tapered thread feed guide (21) on the winding body (2). The hood has a thread winding eye (52) mounted on it. The conical disk (unnumbered) of the rotor is radially slotted (in the plane of the drawing as seen in Figure 1) so that a thread reversing idler wheel (50) and its support (unnumbered) can be mounted on the rotor as illustrated. In operation of the feeder the thread comes through the shaft (3), out of its right end, and passes over the idler wheel (50), whereupon the thread is fed through the winding eye (52) and is laid down on the tapered feed guide (21). The hood (51) and its contents, the guide wheel, are covered by a cap 53 frictionally seated into the hood. The cap (53) serves, in effect, to enclose the head end of the feeder itself. At col. 5, lines 3-22, of the specification a simple and inexpensive feed control mechanism possible for the first time in a non-rotating winding body feeder is described in general terms. It is mounted in a recess (22) in the winding body (2), the recess extending radially of the winding body along a substantial portion of its axial length in the plane of the drawing. In operation of the feeder, as the coil of thread builds upon the winding body (2), the coil begins to cover this recess from right to left in Figure 1. Adjacent to recess, in the feeder housing, a radial slot (unnumbered) is formed. Mounted in this slot for pivoting movement in the plane of the drawing on a pin (8) is a simple wire lever having two arms (71 and 72). One arm (71) extends into the recess while the other arm (72) remains in the radial slot formed in the housing. The second arm (72) carries a permanent magnet (73°) on its free end and a small magnet operated electrical switch (6) is mounted in the housing 1 slot with electrical leads (61 and 62) extending therefrom to the belt drive mechanism 411. The switch (6) then controls the drive mechanism (411) in response to action of the lever arms (71 and 72), which action is, in turn, controlled by the number of thread coils which accumulate on the winding body or drum (2). At col. 5, lines 23-48 (P.Exh. 1), the operation of the sensing lever (71/72) is discussed in greater detail. The lever arm (71) engages the thread coil (102) from beneath in the recess (22) and, when just a few thread coil turns are present, the arm (71) is in its solid line position, as is the lever arm (72). At this time the lever arm (72) is up against the stop (unnumbered) in the housing (1) slot immediately adjacent to switch (6) and the switch is closed, as is conventional with magnetic switches under the effect of a magnetic field (from the permanent magnet) (73°) on the lever arm (72). With the switch closed, the belt drive (411) is energized and rotates the rotor (5) to feed thread onto the winding body (2). As the rotor lays more coil turns on the winding body the coil store advances (to the left in Figure 1) from a point 102e to a point 102a, at the latter of which it has forced the lever arm inwardly to its dotted line position. The lever arm (71) carries the lever arm (72) with it to the dotted line position, which is far enough from the switch so that the magnet is no longer effective and the switch contacts open, stopping the rotor from laying more coil turns onto the winding body. The specification goes on at col. 5, line 49 — col. 6, line 51, to describe the operation of embodiment A of the thread feeder illustrated in Figure 1. When the rotor is rotating, thread is being drawn from the spool through a thread breaking device which keeps some tension on it, and then into the shaft (3) from which the thread emerges, passes over the guide wheel (50), and then through the winding eye (52) onto the tapered feed guide (21) of the winding body. At this point the thread tension created by the rotor pulling the thread through the breaking device, coupled with the axially sliding movement (to the left in Figure 1) of the thread turns being successively formed on the tapered feed guide (21), pull the thread tighter as the coils are formed so that the coils slide down onto the cylindrical surface of the winding body. As more coils are added they force previously formed coils axially to the left in the direction W. This continues until the thread coils reach point 102a and the lever (71/72) reaches its dotted line position, finally shutting-off the belt drive (411) and the thread laying operation by opening the switch when it reaches this position. With a weaving machine in operation, it is, in the meantime, pulling thread over the right end of the feeder through a thread guide (12). Its thread needs are intermittent. Accordingly, the rotor intermittently succeeds in filing the winding body with a thread coil up to a preset point (102a). When this happens the switch opens, as has been pointed out. Further use of the thread by the weaving machine depletes the thread coil 102 store. Because the magnetic switch (6) requires a relatively large magnetic flux to close its contacts but will stay closed until the magnetic flux effective on it has been reduced to a relatively smaller amount, the switch will not close again until the lever reaches its solid line position. This is true even though in the opposite travel direction going from its solid line position to its dotted line position, when coils 102 are added to the winding body, the switch 6 will remain closed. It is the general nature of such magnetic switches. In practice this speed at which the rotor 5 can lay coils on the winding body 2 is slightly greater than the speed at which the weaving machine can trip them off so that the feeder can never be completely stripped of coils. The specification goes on in col. 6, line 64 — col. 7, line 67 (P.Exh. 1), to describe the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 2 and designated B1 herein for ease of reference. As the specification points out this embodiment B1 differs essentially from embodiment Al of the feeder in the direction of thread travel through the center of the apparatus. In contrast to embodiment Al of the winding body 2 of the embodiment B1 is on the left end and the drive pulley 4 is on the right end, as seen in Figure 2. The thread passes through the winding body after departing the coil store rather than before reaching the coil store on the winding body, as in embodiment Al. As described in col. 7, lines 3-17 (P.Exh. 1), the construction of embodiment B1 provides for the feeder housing and the winding body to be secured together by pins (one of them shown, unnumbered) and to have aligned central axis passageways which form a coextensive thread guide way. To the right of the winding body a pulley is journaled on the housing and a belt (41) drives the pulley. The pulley mounts on L-shaped thread laying arm (45) which extends axially along the winding body and rotates around the winding body. Thread guide eyes (111 and 112) are formed on the arm (45). In col. 7, lines 19-36 (P.Exh. 1), of the specification, thread (101) travel from the storage spool onto the winding body is described. The thread passes through the thread eyes (111 and 112) on the rotating arm. The rotating thread eye (112) is located so that as the thread emerges, it is laid directly on the tapered thread feed guide surface at the right end of the spool. Like embodiment A1 of the feeder, turns of thread constrict and slide down the tapered surface to the cylindrical surface of the winding body where they form the coil store which moves to the left in the direction W. In this feeder embodiment B1 thread from the coil store is stripped; i.e., pulled axially in the manner of a spin easting reel, off the left hand end of the winding body over the bead-like edge (23). The drawing illustrates such a bead or bead-like surface as to rounded surface which guides the thread from the coil store over the left end of the winding body into the passage (3A), as illustrated, lifting the thread radially off the winding body surface. The thread (now numbered 101a), passes out of the guide way (3A) in the direction F (to the right) to the weaving machine. Specification at col. 7, lines 37-67, describes the control of the thread feeder embodiment B1 by the switch (83). The switch is operated by a two arm wire lever (74/75) mounted on a pin in a radial recess in the winding body (in the plane of the drawing). The switch is connected by electrical leads (84 and 85) to the belt drive for the belt. The lever is mounted so that when just a few coils of thread are on the winding body surface, as shown in Figure 2, the switch arm (75) permits the switch (83) contacts to remain closed. The switch contacts are spring biased to their closed positions so that as the coil of thread moves to the left on the winding body the lever arm is forced inwardly but is not effective to cause the lever arm (73) to exert enough pressure on the switch (83) contacts to open them until a substantial number of thread coil turns have been laid on the winding body. When such a substantial number of coil turns are laid on the winding body the switch opens and belt drive stops, stopping the laying on of thread turns. As thread is then stripped from the winding body in the manner previously described, the coil store is depleted and the lever permits the switch 83 contacts to close again. The feeder starts once more to accumulate thread. The remaining five thread feeder variations illustrated in Figures 3-15 are all variations of either embodiment A or embodiment B. They all differ principally from two basic embodiments in that, in addition to the tapered feed guide lip of these basic embodiments, the other variations employ positive acting feed devices for moving the thread coils axially along the winding body and those “active” feed devices are coupled to the drive which rotates the thread laying guide. Only one of the infringed claims, Claim 12, is concerned with such an axial positive feed device and then only in the broadest terms; i.e., it calls for “a positive axial feed device coupled with said means for driving the ... thread laying guide.” As such, only one variation of the principal embodiments, that is embodiment A2 illustrated in Figures 3-8 and described at col. 9, line 1 — col. 12, line 41, of the specification is discussed, since it provides all the support required in the disclosure for the subject matter of Claim 12. Col. 9, line 1 — col. 10, line 41, describes the thread feeder A2 as it is illustrated schematically in Figures 3-5. Col. 10, line 42 — col. 12, line 41, goes into details of the actual structure and its operation is illustrated in Figures 6-8. The winding body in embodiment A2 is made up of a plurality of circumferentially arranged rods 24 mounted on and extending parallel to each other away from the thread feeder housing. These rods in effect comprise the thread winding body, as pointed out at col. 10, lines 44r-57. As in embodiment Al, a shaft (3) extends through the housing is rotated by a pulley at one end (left), and rotates a rotor carrying a thread laying guide (52) at its opposite end. This is pointed out in col. 10, lines 58-65. In col. 10, line 66 — col. 11, line 47, an inner cylindrical feed roll member (13) is described as being mounted within the hollow body formed by the rods. The feed roll (13) is mounted on the shaft (3) through an eccentric shaft section (30). The feed roll 13 is essentially a solid member but has a plurality of radially extending, axially parallel ribs (130) which are designed to protrude outwardly through and between the rods of the winding body. On the shaft the eccentric shaft section (30) is arranged so that the axis of the body, and angularly skewed from that axis at an angle. As a result, when the shaft rotates to lay thread on the body defined by the rods the cage does not actually rotate but moves in a planetary and wobbling manner, with its outwardly extending ribs penetrating between the intersticies of the rods in interdigitating fashion; i.e., each rib moves radially outward of a bracketing pair of rods and then radially inwardly thereof as the feed roll moves in planetary fashion within the body. In its planetary movement, which embodies radially outward movement and wobbling movement relative to the axis of the feeder, the feed roll lifts the coil turns of thread from one location on the rods, moves them axially off the rods, and deposits them back on the rods at a distance determined by the amount of eccentricity of the bearing axis relative to the shaft axis and the angle of eccentricity of the bearing axis to the shaft axis. This complex technical material is the disclosure of the Tannert patent, and it sets forth what the plaintiffs contend is Mr. Tannert’s invention. With this disclosure in mind, I turn to the one issue in this case which presents a close legal question: is the Tannert invention obvious in light of prior art? Many of the other questions in this case, although factually complex largely present problems of deciphering great blocks of technical material with which the Court has no prior experience. Once the pattern amid the technical complexities was finally discerned, the legal questions were easily resolved. The issue of the validity of the Tannert patent is of a different sort. The factual and technical questions are difficult enough, but more, the underlying legal question is far closer than the questions presented elsewhere in this case, of which are factually complex but legally clear cut. B. ADEQUACY OF DISCLOSURE IN THE TANNERT PATENT. As a preliminary matter, the defendants have contended that the disclosure in the original Tannert patent application was inadequate under 35 U.S.C. § 112. Although they do not press this issue in their post-trial memorandum, the Court addresses the question as a matter of caution: better the issue should be resolved than the suggestion arises that it was overlooked. It appears that the defendants’ argument is that the Patent Office found the disclosure in the initial application inadequate, and that the continuation-in-part did not correct this fault, so that the Tannert patent as issued should not be considered valid. I would note, first of all, that the inventor Tannert did not appeal the adverse determination on his initial application, but elected instead to file a continuation-in-part. Under these circumstances, no res judicata effect follows from the initial, adverse determination of the Patent Office. Application of Ackerman, 444 F.2d 1172 (Cust. & Pat.App.1971); Application of Russell, 439 F.2d 1228 (Cust. & Pat.App.1971); Application of Hitchings, 342 F.2d 80, 52 CCPA 1141 (C.C.P.A.1965). This Court is free to consider the adequacy of the disclosure of the application as a whole. The test concerning the disclosures of a patent application is whether a skilled practitioner would find the disclosures adequate. Application of Goodwin, 576 F.2d 375 (Cust. & Pat.App.1978), aff’d, 599 F.2d 1060 (Cust. & Pat.App.1979); Application of Edwards, 568 F.2d 1349 (Cust. & Pat.App.1978); Application of Cescon, 474 F.2d 1331, 1335 (Cust. & Pat.App.1973); Application of Forman, 463 F.2d 1125 (Cust. & Pat.App.1972); Application of Moore, 439 F.2d 1232, 1236 (Cust. & Pat.App. 1971); Application of Feinberg, 437 F.2d 1405 (Cust. & Pat.App.1971). During the trial, the plaintiff’s expert, Mr. Chadwick, testified that the disclosures contained in the Tannert patent application were wholly adequate. (Tr. 124-25.) More significantly, the defendants’ own expert, Dr. Amed Tayebi, testified that the disclosures in the original application (P.Exh. 7) were “most definitely” adequate. (Tr. 446-47.) Given this acknowledgement by the defendants’ expert, I find that the disclosures contained in the Tannert patent application was adequate to meet the requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112. C. NONOBVIOUSNESS AND THE STATUTORY PRESUMPTION OF VALIDITY. The key question in this case, as in many patent cases is whether the plaintiff’s Tannert patent meets the test of nonobviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103. The pertinent language of § 103 provides: A patent may not be obtained ... if the difference between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. The defendants contend that the Tannert device is obvious in light of two particular prior art patents, Pfarrwaller, U.S. Patent 3,411,548 (D.Exh. 6; P.Exh. 4), and Pourtier, West German Patent DT-PS 1,191,197 (D.Exh. 5; P.Exh. 35). The test for the determination of obviousness is set forth in Graham v. John Deere Company, 383 U.S. 1, 86 S.Ct. 684,15 L.Ed.2d 545 (1966): Under § 103, the scope and content of the prior art are to be determined; differences between the prior art and the claims at issue are to be ascertained; and the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art resolved. Against this background, the obviousness or nonobviousness of the subject matter is determined. Such secondary consideration as commercial success, long felt but unresolved needs, failure of others, etc., might be utilized to give light to the circumstances surrounding the origin of the subject matter to be patented. As indicated of obviousness or nonobviousness, these inquiries may have relevancy. Id. at 17-18, 86 S.Ct. at 694. The question of the validity of the Tannert invention does not, of course, come to this Court on a clean slate. In considering this question, this Court in essence reviews the determination of the Patent Office that the Tannert patent (P.Exh. 1) should issue. In Graham, the Supreme Court reiterated a principle which has been apparent throughout the history of the patent system: Primary responsibility for determining patentability rests with the Patent Office with its reservoir of experience and expertise. 383 U.S. at 18-19, 86 S.Ct. at 694. Accord, Tights, Inc. v. AcmeMcCrary Corp., 541 F.2d 1047, 1053-54 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 980, 97 S.Ct. 493, 50 L.Ed.2d 589 (1976); Georgia-Pacific Corp. v. United States Plywood Corp., 258 F.2d 124 (2d Cir.1958), cert. denied, 358 U.S. 884, 79 S.Ct. 124, 3 L.Ed.2d 112 (1958); S.A.B. Industries AB v. Bendex Corp., 199 U.S.P.Q. 95, 102 (E.D.Va.1978). This expertise has led to a presumption that an issued patent is valid, a presumption now codified in 35 U.S.C. § 282: A patent shall be presumed valid. Each claim of a patent (whether in independent or dependent form) shall be presumed valid independently of the validity of the other claims, dependent claims shall be presumed valid even though dependent upon an invalid claim. The burden of establishing validity of a patent or any claim thereof shall rest on the party asserting it. Because of this statute and long-standing judicial policy, the plaintiffs are entitled to rely on the presumption that the Tannert patent is valid. The defendants bear the burden of proving obviousness by clear and convincing evidence. Mumm v. Decker & Sons, 301 U.S. 168, 57 S.Ct. 675, 81 L.Ed. 983 (1936); Speed Shore Corp. v. Denda, 605 F.2d 469, 470-71 (9th Cir.1979); Lee Blacksmith, Inc. v. Lindsay Bros., Inc., 605 F.2d 341 (7th Cir.1979); Santa Fe-Pomeroy, Inc. v. P & Z Co., 569 F.2d 1084, 1091 (9th Cir.1978); Blumcraft of Pittsburgh v. Citizens & Southern National Bank, 407 F.2d 557 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 961, 89 S.Ct. 2103, 23 L.Ed.2d 747, reh’g denied, 396 U.S. 870, 90 S.Ct. 39, 24 L.Ed.2d 125, reh’g denied, 396 U.S. 949, 90 S.Ct. 369, 24 L.Ed.2d 254 (1969); Colgate-Palmolive Co. v. Carter Products, Inc., 230 F.2d 855 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 352 U.S. 843, 77 S.Ct. 43, 1 L.Ed.2d 59, reh’g denied, 352 U.S. 913, 77 S.Ct. 152, 1 L.Ed.2d 120 (1956); Lundy Electronics & System, Inc. v. Optical Recognition Systems, Inc., 362 F.Supp. 130 (E.D.Va. 1973), aff’d, 493 F.2d 1222 (4th Cir.1974); Esco Corp. v. Tru-Rol Co., Inc., 352 F.Supp. 416, 425 (D.Md.1972), aff’d, 489 F.2d 699 (4th Cir.1974). In challenging this presumption, the defendants contend that the most pertinent prior art patents with respect to the Tannert patent are Pfarrwaller and Pourtier. In issuing the Tannert patent, the Patent Examiner did not cite the Pfarrwaller patent (D.Exh. 6; P.Exh. 4). The Examiner did cite the Pourtier patent (D.Exh. 5; P.Exh. 35). The presumption of validity attaching to an issued patent rests on the assumption that in issuing a patent the Patent Office has considered all pertinent prior art. It is therefore well established that the presumption of validity does not attach to prior art not considered by the Patent Office. Blohm & Voss AG v. Prudential-Grace Lines, Inc., 489 F.2d 231, 244 (4th Cir.1973), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 840, 95 S.Ct. 70, 42 L.Ed.2d 67 (1974); Eisele v. St. Amour, 423 F.2d 135, 138-39 (6th Cir.1970); Bentley v. Sunset House Distributing Corp., 359 F.2d 140, 146 (9th Cir.1966); Heyl & Patterson, Inc. v. McDowell Co., 317 F.2d 719 (4th Cir.1936); Crane Packing Co. v. Spitfire Tool & Machine Co., 276 F.2d 271 (7th Cir.1960), cert. denied, 363 U.S. 820, 80 S.Ct. 1259, 4 L.Ed.2d 1517 (1960); Sabel v. Wickes Corp., 345 F.Supp. 1227, 1229 (D.S. C.1971); National Steel Corp. v. Baltimore & Ohio R.R., 313 F.Supp. 934, 941 (D.Md. 1970); Uniroyal, Inc. v. Daly-Herring Co., 294 F.Supp. 754, 757 (E.D.N.C.1968). Relying on this rule, the defendants insist that the Tannert Patent must be considered without the benefit of any presumption in its favor because the Examiner did not cite Pfarrwaller. The defendants have overstated the effect of the failure of the Patent Office to cite the Pfarrwaller patent in the Tannert patent. While the failure of the Patent Office to cite a single patent may be sufficient to defeat the presumption of validity, Dresser Industries, Inc. v. Smith-Blair, Inc., 322 F.2d 878 (9th Cir.1963), the presumption does not automatically cease to exist on showing that a prior art patent was not cited by the Patent Examiner. To weaken the presumption of validity which attaches to the Tannert patent, there must be some showing that pertinent prior art was not considered by the Patent Examiner, not merely that it was not cited. As the court in Lundy Electronics & Systems, Inc. v. Optical Recognition Systems Co., Inc., 362 F.Supp. 130, 142 (E.D.Va. 1973), explained: Even though not cited as a reference by the Patent Examiner, there is no presumption in a patent infringement proceeding that patents not cited were overlooked, since they may have been considered and cast aside as not pertinent. Davis v. Buck-Jackson Corp., 138 F.Supp. 908 (E.D.S.C.1955) aff’d, 230 F.2d 655 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 351 U.S. 950 [76 S.Ct. 846, 100 L.Ed. 1474] (1956). It is as reasonable to conclude that a prior art patent not cited was considered and cast aside because not pertinent, as it is to conclude that it was inadvertently overlooked. However, the question whether the failure of the Examiner to cite certain art is consistent with its examination and rejection depends on the pertinency of the uncited art. Maschinenfabrik Rieter, A.G. v. Greenwood Mills, 340 F.Supp. 1103 (D.S.C.1972); Technograph Printed Circuits, Ltd. v. Bendix Aviation Corp., [218 F.Supp. 1 (D.Md.1963), aff’d, 327 F.2d 497 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 826, 85 S.Ct. 53, 13 L.Ed.2d 36 (1964)]. Further, where the file wrapper of a patent indicates that the Patent Examiner searched the class and sub-class which contains the prior art cited by the party attacking the validity of a patent, it is presumed that the Patent Examiner considered all pertinent prior art in the sub-class. Panduit Corp. v. Burndy Corp., 517 F.2d 535, 538 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 987, 96 S.Ct. 395, 46 L.Ed.2d 304 (1975); Uarco Inc. v. Moore Business Forms, Inc., 440 F.2d 580, 585 (7th Cir.1971); Canaan Products, Inc. v. Edward Don & Co., 388 F.2d 540, 544-45 (7th Cir.1968); Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. v. Berwick Industries, 393 F.Supp. 1230, 1234-35 (M.D.Pa.1975), aff’d, 532 F.2d 330 (2d Cir.1976); Derring Milliken Research Corp. v. Beaunit Corp., 382 F.Supp. 403, 410 (W.D.N.C.1974), rev’d on other grounds, 538 F.2d 1022 (4th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 936, 96 S.Ct. 2651, 49 L.Ed.2d 388 (1976); Amerca Esna Corp. v. Highway Safety Devices Inc., 330 F.Supp. 313 (N.D.Tex.1971); Lage v. Caldwell Manufacturing, 221 F.Supp. 802 (D.Neb.1963). In this instance, the Patent Examiner’s search included Class 242, sub-class 47.12, the class and sub-class which contained the Pfarrwaller patent. Therefore, although the Examiner did not cite the Pfarrwaller patent, there is a strong presumption that he considered it. His reason for not citing this patent may well have been that he considered it no more pertinent than the other prior art patents which he did cite. A. R. Inc. v. Electro-Voice, Inc., 311 F.2d 508 (7th Cir.1962). The Examiner’s citation of Rosen suggests this is what occurred. Rosen cites Pfarrwaller (see P.Exh. 5). Even assuming arguendo that the Examiner did not consider the Pfarrwaller patent, this alone would not void the presumption of validity which attaches to the Tannert patent. It would weaken that presumption only insofar as the Pfarrwaller patent is prior art more pertinent than the art cited and considered by the Patent Examiner. La Salle Street Press, Inc. v. McCormick & Henderson, Inc., 445 F.2d 84, 93 (7th Cir.1971); TSC Industries Inc. v. International Harvester Co., 406 F.2d 53, 57 (7th Cir.1968); National Dairy Products Corp. v. Borden Co., 394 F.2d 887, 891 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 953, 89 S.Ct. 378, 21 L.Ed.2d 364 (1968); Ekstrom-Carlson & Co. v. Onsrud Machine Works, Inc., 298 F.2d 765, 768 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 369 U.S. 886, 82 S.Ct. 1160, 8 L.Ed.2d 287 (1962); Brennan v. Hanger, Inc., 203 U.S.P.Q. 697, 702 (S.D.N.Y.1979); Denison Mfg. v. Ben Clements & Sons, Inc., 203 U.S.P.Q. 895,907 (S.D.N.Y.1979); State Bank of Annawan v. Rendispos Corp., 173 U.S.P.Q. 136,143 (S.D. Ill.1971); Mercantile National Bank of Chicago v. Quest, Inc., 303 F.Supp. 926, 933 (E.D.Pa.1975); Illinois Tool Works, Inc. v. Continental Can Co., 273 F.Supp. 94, 111 (N.D.Ill.1967). In this case, the Patent Examiner did cite the Rosen U.S. Patent 3,720,384 (P.Exh. 5), and the defendants’ expert, Dr. Tayebi, testified that in terms of the teaching relevant to this case, this first Rosen Patent is equivalent to the later Rosen Patent (U.S. patent 3,796,384; D.Exh. 10), and is equivalent to the Pfarrwaller patent (P.Exh. 4; D.Exh. 6) (Tr. 396, 417-18). My own examination of the patents in question convinces me that Dr. Tayebi was correct in this view. The earlier Rosen patent (P.Exh. 5), and the later Rosen patent (D.Exh. 10) each contain five technical figures which are identical in every respect. The earlier patent adds two other figures, but these illustrate features not pertinent to this inquiry. Although there are differences between the two written abstracts of the patent, much of the language is again identical. The defendants would totally discount the significance of the earlier Rosen patent, pointing out that it was never put to a commercial use, and that it was intended for use in knitting rather than weaving applications. I find neither reason persuasive. The significance of a patent in this context is its teaching as prior art, not its commercial impact. The authorities are unanimous that commercial impact is a secondary consideration. Secondly, although knitting machines are distinct from weaving machines, the Rosen patent is unquestionably pertinent art. Cathodic Protection Service v. American Smelting & Refining Co., 594 F.2d 499, 507 (5th Cir.1979). The Pfarrwaller patent (P.Exh. 4, D.Exh. 6) is superficially different from the Rosen patents. The defendants, however, cite the Pfarrwaller patent for only a single feature: that it teaches the control of yarn feeding onto the winding body in response to the length of the thread store on the winding body. (Tr. 359-61; Defendants’ Brief at 2, 4). As Dr. Tayebi has acknowledged, the Rosen patent (P.Exh. 5) teaches the same concept. (Tr. 396). Having carefully examined the Pfarrwaller patent and compared it with the Rosen patent cited by the Patent Examiner, I do not believe that the Pfarrwaller patent is more pertinent to the determination of the obviousness or nonobviousness than the Rosen patent is. Therefore, the presumption of validity under 35 U.S.C. § 282 is not weakened by the Patent Office’s failure to cite the Pfarrwaller patent. As noted above, the Patent Examiner did cite the Pourtier patent. Where the Patent Office has cited the prior art on which a defendant relies in challenging the validity of a patent, the presumption of validity is greatly strengthened. Universal Athletic Sales Co. v. American Gym, Recreational & Athletic Equipment Corp., Inc., 546 F.2d 530, 540 n. 28 (3d Cir.1976); Chicago Rawhide Mfg. Co. v. Crane Packing Co., 523 F.2d 452, 458 (7th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1091, 96 S.Ct. 887, 47 L.Ed.2d 103 (1976); Tracor, Inc. v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 519 F.2d 1288, 1292 (7th Cir.1975); Research Corporation v. Nasco Industries, Inc., 501 F.2d 358 (7th Cir.1974); Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc. v. Kollsman Instrument Corp., 372 F.2d 263, 268 (2d Cir.1967); Marston v. J.C. Penney Co., 353 F.2d 976, 982 (4th Cir.1965), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 974, 87 S.Ct. 515, 17 L.Ed.2d 437 (1966); Arnold Pipe Rentals Co. v. Engineering Enterprises, Inc., 350 F.2d 885, 890 (5th Cir.1965); Shumaker v. Gem Manufacturing Co., 311 F.2d 273 (7th Cir.1962); Power Curbers, Inc. v. Etnyre & Co., 298 F.2d 484, 492-93 (4th Cir.1962); Jeoffroy Manufacturing, Inc. v. Graham, 219 F.2d 511, 519 (5th Cir.1955); Southern States Equipment Corp. v. U.S. C.O. Power Equipment Corp., 209 F.2d 111, 118 (5th Cir.1955); Dart Industries, Inc. v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 348 F.Supp. 1338, 1355 (N.D.Ill.1972); Shields-Jetco, Inc. v. Torti, 314 F.Supp. 1292, 1295 (D.R.I. 1970); Arthur J. Schmitt Foundation v. Stockham Valves & Fittings, Inc., 292 F.Supp. 893, 907 (N.D.Ala.1966), aff’d 404 F.2d 13 (5th Cir.1968), cert. denied, 398 U.S. 965, 90 S.Ct. 2177, 26 L.Ed.2d 549 (1970); Illinois Tool Works, Inc. v. Continental Can Co., 273 F.Supp. 94, 111 (N.D.Ill.1967). Thus, there is a strong presumption in this case that the Tannert patent is valid and not obvious. While the question is not foreclosed and requires an independent consideration by this Court, reasonable doubt must be resolved in favor of a finding that the plaintiffs’ Tannert patent is valid. Radio Corp. of America v. Radio Engineering Laboratories, 293 U.S. 1, 7, 54 S.Ct. 752, 755, 78 L.Ed. 1453 (1934). D. THE TANNERT PATENT AND ANTICIPATION, 35 U.S.C. § 102. Although the defendants rest their attack on the validity of the Tannert patent primarily on the contention that the invention is obvious and the patent therefore invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 103, there is a sufficient contention of anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102 to warrant the Court’s attention. The defendants contend that, without reference to other art, the Pourtier device can be modified to achieve the patented device. (Tr. 359-61, 369; Defendants’ brief at 4). Assuming arguendo that this contention is true, I find it is not sufficient to make out a case of anticipation as that term is construed in the cases interpreting 35 U.S.C. § 102. Anticipation is established only when a single device in the pertinent prior art includes all of the claimed elements of the invention in question. American Original Corporation v. Jenkins Food Corp., 696 F.2d 1053, 1058-59 (4th Cir.1982); Carter-Wallace, Inc. v. Gillette Co., 675 F.2d 10, 15 (1st Cir.1982); Arbrook, Inc. v. American Hospital Supply Corp., 645 F.2d 273, 276-77 (5th Cir.1981); Milgo Electronic Corp. v. United Business Communications, Inc., 623 F.2d 645, 654 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1066, 101 S.Ct. 794, 66 L.Ed.2d 611 (1980); Application of Marshall, 578 F.2d 301 (Cust. & Pat.App.1978); Tights, Inc. v. Acme-McCrary Corp., 541 F.2d 1047, 1056 (4th Cir.1976); Illinois Tool Works, Inc. v. Sweetheart Plastics, Inc., 436 F.2d 1180, 1182-83 (7th Cir.1971) and cases cited therein; Plasser American Corporation v. Canron, Inc., 546 F.Supp. 589 (D.S.C.1980); Thomas & Betts Corp. v. Winchester Electronics Division of Litton Systems, Inc., 519 F.Supp. 1191 (D.Del.1981); Wycoff v. Motorola, Inc., 502 F.Supp. 77 (N.D.Ill.1980); Duplan Corp. v. Deering Milliken, Inc., 444 F.Supp. 648 (D.S.C.1977), aff’d in part, rev’d in part on other grounds, 594 F.2d 979 (4th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1015, 100 S.Ct. 666, 62 L.Ed.2d 645 (1980). As the defendants admit, the Pourtier device responds to the length of the coil store on the winding body by engaging and disengaging the coil removal function. In a weaving situation, this would mean that the loom would have to continually start and stop. This is impractical in a weaving situation. This alone is sufficient to defeat any claim of anticipation, and I conclude that the Tannert patent was not anticipated by the Pourtier patent, or by any other cited prior art. E. SCOPE AND CONTENT OF THE PRIOR ART. The prior art patents upon which Roj and Otex rely are the Pourtier German patent No. DT 1,191,197 (P.Exh. 35, D.Exh. 5) and the Pfarrwaller U.S. patent No. 3,411,548 (P.Exh. 4, D.Exh. 6). These are described in the following pages. In addition to this, because of their equivalence to the Pfarrwaller patent, the Rosen U.S. patent No. 3,720,384 (P.Exh. 5) and the Rosen U.S. patent No. 3,796,384 (D.Exh. 10) are also described. 1. Pourtier German Patent No. 1,191,197 (P.Exhs. 35A, 35B, 36) As described in the translation (P.Exh. 35B), the drawing (P.Exh. 36) and Mr. Chadwick’s testimony (Tr. 514-18), this German patent cited by the Patent Office shows a device for feeding wire cable. It comprises a drum which is rigidly fixed to a shaft. The shaft is, in turn, rigidly mounted on the framework of the storage device. The storage device is designed to take up and store wire cable being continuously delivered from a manufacturing process during those periods when drums are not being filled with the wire for marketing; i.e., when a drum has been filled and is being removed and an empty drum substituted for it. Viewing the storage device in the single figure of the patent drawing, the wire is received from the wire manufacturing machine at the right through a guide. It proceeds to a pulley mounted on the periphery of a rotatable disc. The disc is rotated through a drive pulley by a belt drive. The disc rotates relative to the fixed drum. As it does so, it circumferentially lays wire in successive coils on the drum adjacent to a wobbling ring also rotated by the disc. The disc is rotated at the speed at which the wire is being manufactured so as to continuously lay it on the drum as the wire is manufactured. The wobbling ring successively nudges each new coil to the right on the drum to make way for the next coil. In this way the coils are built upon and moved to the right along the drum. Notably, the coils move toward the source. To remove wire from the drum a marketing spool to which the wire coming from the left end of the devices is attached, is rotated. The wire is pulled through the passage in the shaft from the right end of the shaft over a wire reversal guide. It reaches the guide by being circumferentially unwrapped from the drum over a pulley. The pulley is mounted on a radial arm of a bushing rotatable on the shaft. Rotation of the marketing spool thus causes the arm and the pulley to rotate. Wire is circumferentially unwrapped from the drum, drawn over the pulley as the pulley rotates, and passes in the opposite direction through the shaft to the rotating spool. The spool is rotated under the control of a switch operated by two photocells and on the drum. When the coils on the drum are reduced in number to a point where.the photocells receive a sufficient light signal from the light source, the spool is stopped and wire removal ceases until sufficient coils again build up on the drum to cover the cells. During this period, a full spool may be removed and an empty spool put in its place to begin filling it when spool rotation again is called for. Wire continues to be laid on the drum at all times. 2. Pfarrwaller U.S. Patent No. 3,411,548 (P.Exh. 4, D.Exh. 2) Referring to the patent and Mr. Chadwick’s testimony (Tr. 63-67), the Pfarrwaller patent (see esp. Fig. 2) discloses a weft thread feeder for looms. The feeder takes thread from the storage bobbin and coils it on its drum. The thread is removed from these coils on the drum by a gripper shuttle. The feeder includes a supporting arm which is fixed to the loom frame. The arm mounts bearings which rotatably carry a hollow shaft. At the left end of the shaft a pulley is loosely seated on it. A clutch plate on the pulley cooperates by magnetic coupling with a disc fixed to the shaft to cause the shaft to rotate with the pulley when the magnetic coupling is energized. At the right end of the shaft, an eye and bore is provided through which the weft thread passes from the inside to the outside of the shaft. The shaft has affixed to its right end a hollow conical body which functions as a flyer arm. At the outer edge of the flyer arm is provided a thread feeding eye through which the weft thread is passed. The shaft, at its right end, includes an extension inside the hollow cone. A drum is rotatably supported with respect to the shaft in this space on ball bearings. Whereas the shaft with its right end rotates, the drum is held against any substantial rotation by two permanent magnets supported within a ring which encircles the right end of the drum so as to leave an annular space between the ring and the drum. The drum carries two armatures which cooperate with the magnets to substantially prevent the drum from following the rotation of the shaft. In effect, these magnets and armatures counter-rotate the drum relative to the shaft. The support arm additionally carries a light source whose beam is obliquely incident on the drum. The reflected beam of light impinges on a photocell which is shielded from the source by means of a mask. The photocell is connected by conductors to the switching device. During operation of the loom, rotation of the cone continuously pulls weft thread from the bobbin through the hollow shaft and through the eye formed on the cone or flyer, and the thread so withdrawn is wound onto the drum. During each pick by the weaving shuttle, the thread unwinds from the drum under the brushes of the braking ring. As the coils of thread are laid on the drum by the eye, they are laid on the conical enlargement of the drum. The drum has a polished surface so that the arriving coils cause those already wound to slip to the right, and thus move onto the cylindrical portion of the drum. After several revolutions have been executed by the shaft, several turns will build up on the cylindrical portion. By reason of the polished nature of the drum surface and because of the looseness with which the turns are wound, each coil will be shifted to the right by the coil to the left of it. In contrast to the Pourtier and Tannert devices, the coils in the Pfarrwaller device are shifted away from the source. If the axial length of the space occupied by the coils of thread on the drum extends to the right so as to cover the point at which the light beam is reflected, the reflected beam will be interrupted. The photocell and a switching device are so adjusted that with this reduction of light incident on the photocell, the supply of current to the magnetic coupling is interrupted and the hollow shaft and cone come to rest. When, after one or more additional picks, enough coils are withdrawn from the drum so as to uncover the spot at which the light beam is incident on the drum, the photocell will again receive the reflected beam so that the magnetic coupling will be restored by operation of the photocell and the switching device will cause the cone to resume rotation with the shaft and once more with raw weft thread from the bobbin and wind it on the drum. In a modified embodiment of the thread feeder, the drum includes an eccentric mass which causes the drum to be unbalanced. The weight of the mass hinders rotation of the drum so as to make the ring magnet and armatures unnecessary. Again, the effect is to counter-rotate the drum relative to the shaft. 3. Rosen U.S. Patent No. 3,720,884 (P.Exh. 5) As shown in the patent and Mr. Chadwick’s testimony (Tr. 67-71), the Rosen patent (P.Exh. 5) discloses a thread feeder also. The feeder comprises a chassis housing in which a shaft is journaled on ball bearings. The shaft has a hollow projecting arm bent downwardly at its outer end. Thread comes from a supply package through the hollow shaft and out of the arm where it is laid on the cylindrical surface of the winding body by the rotation of the shaft and arm. A pulley wheel driven by a belt is connected to the shaft and rotates it. The winding body is mounted on the shaft also but it is held against rotation with the shaft. This is accomplished by a complicated arrangement of a gear ring fixed on the housing, a gear ring of identical size mounted on the winding body, and a pair of sprockets which run around these two rings on a pin as the shaft rotates. This planetary gear arrangement keeps the winding body stationary. As in the Pfarrwaller device the effect is one of counter-rotation. As the arm rotates it lays thread on the stationary winding body in precisely the same location relative to the axis of the winding body with each rotation. These turns of thread are successively and progressively moved axially down the winding body by the pressure of an inclined, toothed disc. The disc is mounted on the rotating shaft with bearings so that it does not rotate. Its teeth protrude outwardly of the winding body cylindrical surface. Although the disc does not rotate with the shaft, its bearing mounting plate does so that the disc wobbles as the shaft rotates. This wobbling forces thread laid on the winding body to be forced axially down the winding body with each rotation. The disc is actually maintained in its inclined position by the pressure of a spring. When a predetermined number of yarn coil turns have accumulated in the yarn store on the winding body, the increasing frictional resistance of this growing reserve overpowers the spring whereupon the disc moves to a more horizontal position. This permits a pin to become disengaged from a ring on the drive pulley and rotation of the shaft as well as the thread laying arm is stopped. 4. Rosen U.S. Patent No. 3,796,384 (D.Exh. 10) Insofar as its disclosure of a non-rotating drum is concerned, this patent is identical to the earlier Rosen Patent (P.Exh. 5). It discloses control of the thread laying arm as a function of the thread store length in a manner identical to the earlier Rosen Patent. Dr. Tayebi admits that the two patents are identical in this teaching (Tr. 418). Dr. Tayebi also admits that the teaching of the Rosen patents with regard to thread laying arm control as a function of thread storage coil length is the same as the Pfarrwaller (P.Exh. 4, D.Exh. 6) thread feeder (Tr. 418). F. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PRIOR ART AND THE CLAIMED INVENTION. The device defined by Claim 1 of the Tannert patent (P.Exh. 1) in suit is critically different than the prior art Pourtier wire storage (P.Exhs. 35, 36, D.Exh. 5). The Tannert invention: a) Is a “thread feeder” for taking, storing, and feeding “thread” to a textile machine. b) Is a “Thread feeder” with a thread coil storage or winding body which is “fixed” to the feeder chassis or support. c) Is a “thread feeder” wherein a “thread laying guide” is rotated by “driving means” and that “driving means” is under the control of a “control device ... operated in response to the length ... (of the thread coil) store.” d) Is a “thread feeder” wherein the thread moves in a passageway through the thread coil winding body in a direction opposite to the direction in which thread coils are shifted on the outside of the winding body. e) Is a thread feeder wherein thread is stripped from the second end of the thread coil store, i.e., pulled axially over the winding body end. Referring to the patent (P.Exh. 35A), translation (P.Exh. 35B), drawing (P.Exh. 36) and Mr. Chadwick’s testimony (Tr. 522-29) the Pourtier device, in contrast: a) Is an electric cable storage device which receives and stores cable being manufactured by a cable manufacturing machine, as Dr. Tayebi admits (Tr. 433). b) Is a storage device wherein cable laying onto its storage drum is not under control of a control device operated in response to the length of the coiled cable store, as Dr. Tayebi admits (Tr. 348). c) Is a storage device where the drum constantly receives cable from a constantly rotating arm, as Dr. Tayebi admits (Tr. 433-34). d) Is a cable storage device where the wire is not guided by a “bead-like means” as it departs, as Dr. Tayebi admits (Tr. 442). e) Is a storage device wherein cable is not stripped off the drum by being pulled over the drum end but rather is unwound from the drum circumferentially over a rotating arm and pulley, as Mr. Chadwick testified (Tr. 518). In reviewing these differences between the Pourtier art and the Tannert art, I find that the last difference, the unwinding device in the Pourtier art, is particularly critical. Given the speed at which the modern high-speed loom draws off picks of thread, a passive unwinding device would be simply unworkable. It would, almost undoubtedly reintroduce such an element of tension that the very function of a thread feeder would be defeated. Alternatively, an active unwinding device would require the sort of powerful driving force and braking mechanism found in rotating drum feeders which has been cited as one of their key di