The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

This folder contains material pertaining to the suit brought by the American Graphophone Co. against the National Phonograph Co. and one of its agents, the Blackman Talking Machine Co., in the U.S. Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York. The case was initiated in June 1909 and involved Richard B. Smith's U.S. Patent 881,831 on a reproducer swivel arm. The selected documents consist of affidavits by Edison, William Pelzer, and Peter Weber, along with three blueprints accompanying Edison's affidavit. Also included is an undated item, probably written by Frank L. Dyer, comparing Smith's patent with reproducer patents issued to Edison and John C. English. Among the documents not selected are the consent decree admitting infringement of the Smith patent, by which the suit was settled in December 1911, and additional affidavits describing methods formerly used at the Edison Phonograph Works for mechanically duplicating phonograph records.