## Facts

- John Brown owned a U.S. patent covering an improvement in the gaff of sailing vessels.
- Duchesne was the master of the French schooner *Alcyon*, a French-built, French-owned, and French-manned vessel sailing under the French flag.
- The patented improvement was installed on the *Alcyon* abroad as part of the vessel’s original construction and equipment, pursuant to the laws of France.
- While on a lawful international voyage, the *Alcyon* entered Boston, Massachusetts, and the vessel’s gaffs incorporating the patented improvement were used during entry, presence in port, and departure.
- Brown sued Duchesne in a federal circuit court action at law for patent infringement based on the device’s use in Boston; the circuit court entered judgment for Duchesne.
- Brown sought Supreme Court review by writ of error.

## Issues

1. Whether U.S. patent statutes prohibit the use of a patented invention aboard a foreign-flag vessel lawfully in a U.S. port when the device was installed abroad under the vessel’s national law as part of its equipment.
2. Whether treating such temporary, voyage-related use as infringement would improperly extend U.S. patent rights beyond their territorial and statutory scope.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment for Duchesne.
- The Court held that a U.S. patentee’s statutory rights do not extend to a foreign vessel lawfully entering U.S. ports when the patented improvement was placed on the vessel in a foreign port and authorized by the law of the vessel’s country.
- The Court concluded that the vessel’s use of the improvement as part of its construction, fitting out, or equipment while coming into or going out of a U.S. port was not an infringement on these facts.

## Legal Principles

- U.S. patent rights are territorial and arise solely from statute; absent clear congressional direction, they are construed as confined within the United States.
- The mere use in U.S. waters of patented apparatus that was installed abroad, under foreign authorization, as part of a foreign vessel’s equipment during lawful entry, temporary stay, and departure does not constitute patent infringement.
- Patent statutes are not read to impose liability in a manner that effectively regulates and penalizes conduct completed wholly abroad (installation and equipping) when the only domestic contact is voyage-related operation of a foreign ship.
- Statutory interpretation may account for the practical consequences for international maritime commerce and the treatment traditionally accorded to foreign vessels temporarily in port.

## Conclusion

The Court limited the reach of U.S. patent law by holding that a foreign vessel’s temporary, lawful use in a U.S. port of patented equipment installed abroad under foreign law is not actionable infringement, and it affirmed judgment for the vessel’s master.


Brown v. Duchesne, 60 U.S. 183 (1856)