This section is from "Scientific American Vol. XLIII. No. 25", by Munn & Co. Also available from Amazon: Scientific American Science Desk Reference.
DICKSON vs. KINSMAN. - INTERFERENCE. - TELEPHONE.
The subject matter of the interference is defined in the preliminary declaration thereof as follows:
The combination in one instrument of a transmitting telephone and a receiving telephone, so arranged that when the mouthpiece of the speaking or transmitting telephone is applied to the mouth of a person, the orifice of the receiving telephone will be applied to his ear.
1. While it is true that the unsupported allegations of an inventor, that he conceived an invention at a certain date, are not sufficient to establish such fact, the testimony of a party that he constructed and used a device at a certain time is admissible.
2. Abandonment is an ill-favored finding, which cannot be presumed, but must be conclusively proven.
The decision of the Board of Examiners-in-Chief is reversed, and priority awarded to Dickson.
 
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