Also known as: machines
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A device or apparatus consisting of fixed and moving parts that work together to perform some function. Machines constitute one of the statutory categories of patentable inventions.
Melissa Mills used a check-writing machine to issue instruments from her business account. She supplied the payee name to the machine operator. When a dispute arose over an unauthorized payee, the court looked to Mills's intent in supplying the identification rather than the operator's actions.
Mustafa Mahmoud purchased a new car from a manufacturer. The vehicle had a latent defect in its steering mechanism that caused an accident injuring a passenger. The court held the manufacturer liable even without privity because the car was a dangerous machine placed in the stream of commerce.
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Marcus Mitchell challenged a state statute restricting medical procedures. The state argued that constitutional review should operate like an automated machine applying fixed rules without judicial judgment. The court rejected that view, emphasizing that due process requires reasoned application rather than mechanical formulas.
Miguel Mendoza bought a car from a dealer. The vehicle contained a manufacturing defect that rendered it unfit for ordinary use. The court refused to enforce a disclaimer of implied warranty, holding that the car as a machine carried an implied warranty of merchantability that could not be disclaimed in these circumstances.
Matrix Technologies launched a tender offer for a target corporation that owned multiple factories filled with production machines. The state attempted to block the offer through an anti-takeover statute. The court struck down the statute as an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce affecting the market for corporate control.
Metro Bank contributed to a political committee that used automated duplicating machines to produce and distribute campaign literature. The Court upheld disclosure requirements for such expenditures, noting that the public interest in transparency justified the reporting obligations even for machine-produced materials.
A machine qualifies as a statutory category of invention when it consists of fixed and moving parts working together to perform a function. This classification allows patent protection for mechanical devices that meet the other requirements of novelty, utility, and nonobviousness.
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A supplier faces liability when it knows or has reason to know the machine is dangerous for its intended use, has no reason to believe users will discover the danger, and fails to warn those who will use or be endangered by the machine. Liability extends to foreseeable users even without direct privity.
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When an issuer's signature is made by automated means such as a check-writing machine, the payee is determined by the intent of the person who supplied the payee's name or identification. That intent controls even if the person supplying the information lacked authority.
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Yes. A single machine may constitute a commercial unit when commercial usage treats it as a single whole for purposes of sale, so that dividing it would materially impair its character or value on the market or in use.
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…an appropriate subject of taxation in this country and England, both before and since the adoption of the Constitution. Steward Machine Co. v. Davis , 301 U. S. 548, 579, et seq. And such a tax imposed upon the employer for unemployment benefits is within the constitutional power of the states. Carmichael v. Southern…