Re: Victor Gloves & The Rogers Brothers
Posted: May 24th, 2013, 3:36 am
In 1909 Victor Sporting Goods sued Rawlings Sporting Goods for patent infringement. Victor presented their 1895 patent for a buckle web catchers mitt as being infringed upon by Rawlings.
The Victor patent was unique for the buckle web feature but became too broad in claiming any means to form a pocket besides a buckle was still within the patent claim. Rawlings countered that other known patents such as the Jason Draper grommet web patent of 1891 and the John Gamble patent of 1906 for a molded padding accomplished the same thing as the Victor patent and in 1911 the lawsuit was dismissed as being without merit. There is a dirth of pictorial information on Rawlings catchers mitts before 1910. Mark Walters has his "Gibson" mitt of 1913 and that is about it. No catalog images exist as far as I know. It would be nice to see what Rawlings produced between 1900 -1910.
The Victor patent was unique for the buckle web feature but became too broad in claiming any means to form a pocket besides a buckle was still within the patent claim. Rawlings countered that other known patents such as the Jason Draper grommet web patent of 1891 and the John Gamble patent of 1906 for a molded padding accomplished the same thing as the Victor patent and in 1911 the lawsuit was dismissed as being without merit. There is a dirth of pictorial information on Rawlings catchers mitts before 1910. Mark Walters has his "Gibson" mitt of 1913 and that is about it. No catalog images exist as far as I know. It would be nice to see what Rawlings produced between 1900 -1910.