Fairway Construction Co. v. Allstate Modernization Inc‪.‬

Plaintiff-appellant perfected this appeal from an order entered by the district court granting defendant-appellee's motion for summary judgment, and appellee perfected a cross-appeal from an order denying its motion for an award of attorneys' fees against appellant. The litigants herein are home improvement contractors operating in the Detroit, Michigan, area. In November of 1971 appellant instituted this action alleging that appellee's construction of second story dormers in existing single story dwellings infringed appellant's United States Patent No. 3,089,201. The patent was issued on May 14, 1963, on a continuation in part application filed on August 28, 1961. Basically, the patent shows how a low ceilinged attic of a single story dwelling can be enlarged into useful living space by cutting an opening in the roof inwardly from the walls of the house and building into the opening a dormer addition having a floor, walls and a roof, and not limited in elevation by the original ridge. The patent provides for the insertion of separate and higher joists for the dormer floor to rest on in order to relieve the stress on the joists from which the ceiling below is suspended. The unique feature of the patent, according to appellant, is the method of construction which it proposes. The patented method provides that bearing blocks be placed on the existing lower walls, floor joists laid on the bearing blocks, and thereafter, the walls and roof of the dormer constructed.