Presto
Issue: 1920 1793 - Page 23
R E
December 4, 1920.
WHERE PATENTS
ARE INVOLVED
Motor Player Corporation, Chicago, Objects
in Letter to Action and Denies Claims
of Piano Motors Corporation of
Camden, N. J.
In a letter received this week the Motor Player
Corporation, Chicago, calls attention to the publi-
cation recently in two trade papers of an article
which the corporation considers "misleading and
intended to create an impression very serious under
the circumstances involved." What is involved in
the circumstances is the patent rights covering the
use of bleed valves on motors to operate player-
pianos.
Denies Attorney's Claims.
The Motor Player Corporation objects to a letter
and denies the claims of Attorney J. Stewart Free-
man, acting for the Piano Motors Corp., of Cam-
den, N. J. In this letter to the trade the attorney
said the company he represented "enjoys exclusive
rights" which he specified. The letter also intimated
that the vacuum modifying valve "made and sold
in conjunction with the 'E'ectora,' a product of
the Motor Player Corporation of Chicago, "is a
direct infringement of many very broad c'aims in
the patent applications" of the Camden industry.
The action of Attorney J. Stewart Freeman was
commented upon by the Motor Player Corporation,
Chicago, in a letter to a recipient of Mr. Freeman's
letter, as follows:
Comment on Reply.
The motive of this letter is very evident to any
fair-minded person. In essence it is (what is called
in patent phraseology) "a veiled threat"—the pur-
pose being to convey a different idea than the actual
statements made in the letter.
You will note the first paragraph stated that, "The
Piano Motor Corporation enjoys the exclusive right
and license under two or more pending applica-
tions." This statement is self-evidently misleading
and positively states that no patents have been is-
sued, whereas the Motor Player Corporation al-
ready have issued patents covering every phase of
its product, "The Electora Motor Player," and im-
provements.
In the second paragraph it is not stated that "we
are infringers"—it simply states the opinion of a
lawyer who states that "he is of the opinion" and
fortunately for him he has cleverly made this state-
ment inasmuch as we all know that everyone has the
right to their opinion—so he has simply expressed
his opinion without making? any further statements,
figuring, evidently, that the customers of the
Motor Player Corporation might construe this let-
ter as being an expression of positive fact. It is
therefore quite clear that there is nothing in the
letter to be concerned about at all.
These letters we have reason to believe were sent
oui to our jobbers or distributors who have been
listed in our trade paper advertisements. In other
words, we believe this is an indirect malicious at-
tempt to disrupt the harmonious relations which we
enjoy with our customers and should be considered
as such by our customers.
Assumes All Responsibility.
In conclusion we wish to emphatically assure you
that the Motor Player Corporation will assume all
responsibility in patent litigations and that they are
now in the process of prosecuting the Piano Motors
Corporation for infringing on all the patents issued
to the Motor Player Corporation for the Electora
Motor Player in connection with its application to
the playerpiano.
They, the Piano Motor Corporation, have been
repeatedly informed of their misdemeanor in this
regard. The case, already in the court waiting tes-
timony, will be settled shortly.
This letter and others, which we have, will be
used as evidence of the peculiar state of mind which
our infringers have and will be damaging evidence
to ihem in the suit now pending.
In no case have we threatened the dealer or dis-
tributor of their product inasmuch as we realized
that tbfy are innocent victims of a deliberate scheme
into which they have been drawn due to ignorance
of actual facts involved and for the purpose of pro-
tecting the music trade as far as possible, we pub-
lished in all the music trade magazines a full page
advertisement, copy of which we are enclosing here-
with.
Yours very truly,
MOTOR PLAYER CORPORATION.
An Important Controversy.
Bates & Macklin, of Chicago, attorneys for the
Motor Player Company, have requested the trade
papers in which the claims of the Camden company
appeared, that an article also be published to "neu-
tralize the harmful effects of the Piano Motors news
item." They also state that "at the present time
.suit is pending in the Federal Court in Philadelphia
against the Piano Motors Corporation in which the
Motor Player Corporation of Chicago is confidently
asking an injunction and urging various claims of
unfair competition."
While Presto is not closely informed in the mat-
ter, and has not made any statements in favor of
either side, it is evident that the controversy pre-
sents more than common interest to the player
industry and trade. Consequently it is only fair that
the claims set forth by the Chicago industry, in
opposition to those of the eastern corporation, in
the trade papers, be given place.
Quality—Supremacy—EBE—New York
WESSELL, NICKEL & GROSS
^"XSBSK
\.
Manufacturers of
j « S
PIANO ACTIONS
HIGHEST GRADE
J ^ ^ M S ^ ^ ^
l ^ e ^ ^ ^
J
XJX^^U^^^/
W««t Forty-Fifth Street, Tenth
AT.HU.
and Wo«t
Forty-Sixth Stravt.
lhe Sign of Supreme
!
ONE GRADE ONLY
FACTORIES:
VSUMIHB/
WHERE THE ROADMEN
WERE SEEN THIS WEEK
Energetic Missionaries in the Cause of Piano
Sales Encountered on the Joyous Job
in Many Places.
W. B. Marshall, general sales manager for Kra-
kauer Bros., New York, spent Thanksgiving with his
family at his home in West Bedford, Mass. Mr.
Marshall had ended a long trip through the South
and West, where he had appointed many new Kra-
kauer agencies.
Fred Grebe's New York friends will not see him
until Christmas, when he will return from his tour
of the Middle West. The sales department of Kra-
nich & Bach is kept posted on his movements by
the receipt of letters and satisfying orders.
I. N. Rice, the piano traveler, is enjoying the No-
vember weather of Los Angeles, Calif. In a letter
to a friend in Chicago this week he appreciated the
balmy joys of Southern California all the more when
the national weather reports recorded 15 above in
Desplaines, 111.
W. S. Dunn, traveler for C. Kurtzmann & Com-
pany, Buffalo, N. Y., was in Chicago on Monday of
this week and attended the noonday luncheon of
the Piano Club of Chicago on that day. The meet-
ing was an interesting one.
Lem Kline, head of the Rex Piano Mfg. Company,
Chicago, has returned from his extensive trip through
the Southwest.
Albert F. Price, vice-president of the Price &
Teeple Piano Company, Chicago, started on Mondajr
night of this week for a trip through the Southwest.
Henry P. Veatch, Chicago manager of the Pack-
ard Piano Company, was at Fort Wayne, Ind., at
U. Urquhart, manager of the General Action Com-
pany, New York, was in Chicago on Thursday of
this week calling on the manufacturers. He re-
mained in the city until Saturday. To a Presto
representative on Thursday Mr. Urquhart said that
while business generally in New York at the present
time is slack, owing to deflation by large employers
and a disposition on the part of the purchasing pub-
lice to buy very cautiously, there is still piano trade
for the salesmen who hustle for it.
C. E. Jackson, wholesale manager of The Cable
Company, Chicago, is on a trip through the East.
Tn the want adv. department of Presto there is an
unusual announcement. It pertains to a lot of
phonograph tables which were picked up near Gary,
Ind., by a reader of this paper. The turn-tables
seem to have been dropped from a truck and the
package, which bore no address, was for a local
delivery, perhaps. The opportunity now opens for
someone to reclaim the lost goods.
CABLE-NELSON PIANO CO,
Manufactures fine pianos and player-pianos and
Wholesales them at fair prices and terms.
The agency is a source of both
profit and prestige.
REPUBLIC BUILDING, CHICAGO
«7 We.t 45th Str««t
mfim
23
O
^:r^'
N E W YORK
Comstock, Cheney & Co*
Ivory Cutters and Manufacturers
Piano Keys, Actions * Hammers
WORY \ N D COMPOSITION-COVERED ORGAN KEYS
f»i* only Com( any Furnishing the Keys, Actions Hammsrs and Braokets Compfc**
The Best High-Grade Piano for the Money
Newman Bros. Pianos have tonal quality second to none.
Their many superior points and their forty-six years of pres-
tige give the dealer interesting facts to '.ell his prospects.
When you take on the Newman line of pianos and players you
become one of us, and we give you real help when you need it.
Don't just think we are a fine firm to deal with, find out for
sure and you will stay right with us.
Newman Bros. Company
Factories, 806-16 Dix St.
f'«ft£grapb a n d R . R. S t a t i o n J Essex 3 C o n n .
Chicago, Illinois
Office a n d F a c t o r i e s ? t v o r y t o n , CtoflSS&-
FOR TONE, BEAUTY
AND LASTING
a
ACCOMPLISHMENT ,
-AUTO-PLAYER ~
The WERNER INDUSTRIES CO. Cine
P I A N O S
AMD
P f. A.V E R S
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
December 4, 1920.
WHERE PATENTS
ARE INVOLVED
Motor Player Corporation, Chicago, Objects
in Letter to Action and Denies Claims
of Piano Motors Corporation of
Camden, N. J.
In a letter received this week the Motor Player
Corporation, Chicago, calls attention to the publi-
cation recently in two trade papers of an article
which the corporation considers "misleading and
intended to create an impression very serious under
the circumstances involved." What is involved in
the circumstances is the patent rights covering the
use of bleed valves on motors to operate player-
pianos.
Denies Attorney's Claims.
The Motor Player Corporation objects to a letter
and denies the claims of Attorney J. Stewart Free-
man, acting for the Piano Motors Corp., of Cam-
den, N. J. In this letter to the trade the attorney
said the company he represented "enjoys exclusive
rights" which he specified. The letter also intimated
that the vacuum modifying valve "made and sold
in conjunction with the 'E'ectora,' a product of
the Motor Player Corporation of Chicago, "is a
direct infringement of many very broad c'aims in
the patent applications" of the Camden industry.
The action of Attorney J. Stewart Freeman was
commented upon by the Motor Player Corporation,
Chicago, in a letter to a recipient of Mr. Freeman's
letter, as follows:
Comment on Reply.
The motive of this letter is very evident to any
fair-minded person. In essence it is (what is called
in patent phraseology) "a veiled threat"—the pur-
pose being to convey a different idea than the actual
statements made in the letter.
You will note the first paragraph stated that, "The
Piano Motor Corporation enjoys the exclusive right
and license under two or more pending applica-
tions." This statement is self-evidently misleading
and positively states that no patents have been is-
sued, whereas the Motor Player Corporation al-
ready have issued patents covering every phase of
its product, "The Electora Motor Player," and im-
provements.
In the second paragraph it is not stated that "we
are infringers"—it simply states the opinion of a
lawyer who states that "he is of the opinion" and
fortunately for him he has cleverly made this state-
ment inasmuch as we all know that everyone has the
right to their opinion—so he has simply expressed
his opinion without making? any further statements,
figuring, evidently, that the customers of the
Motor Player Corporation might construe this let-
ter as being an expression of positive fact. It is
therefore quite clear that there is nothing in the
letter to be concerned about at all.
These letters we have reason to believe were sent
oui to our jobbers or distributors who have been
listed in our trade paper advertisements. In other
words, we believe this is an indirect malicious at-
tempt to disrupt the harmonious relations which we
enjoy with our customers and should be considered
as such by our customers.
Assumes All Responsibility.
In conclusion we wish to emphatically assure you
that the Motor Player Corporation will assume all
responsibility in patent litigations and that they are
now in the process of prosecuting the Piano Motors
Corporation for infringing on all the patents issued
to the Motor Player Corporation for the Electora
Motor Player in connection with its application to
the playerpiano.
They, the Piano Motor Corporation, have been
repeatedly informed of their misdemeanor in this
regard. The case, already in the court waiting tes-
timony, will be settled shortly.
This letter and others, which we have, will be
used as evidence of the peculiar state of mind which
our infringers have and will be damaging evidence
to ihem in the suit now pending.
In no case have we threatened the dealer or dis-
tributor of their product inasmuch as we realized
that tbfy are innocent victims of a deliberate scheme
into which they have been drawn due to ignorance
of actual facts involved and for the purpose of pro-
tecting the music trade as far as possible, we pub-
lished in all the music trade magazines a full page
advertisement, copy of which we are enclosing here-
with.
Yours very truly,
MOTOR PLAYER CORPORATION.
An Important Controversy.
Bates & Macklin, of Chicago, attorneys for the
Motor Player Company, have requested the trade
papers in which the claims of the Camden company
appeared, that an article also be published to "neu-
tralize the harmful effects of the Piano Motors news
item." They also state that "at the present time
.suit is pending in the Federal Court in Philadelphia
against the Piano Motors Corporation in which the
Motor Player Corporation of Chicago is confidently
asking an injunction and urging various claims of
unfair competition."
While Presto is not closely informed in the mat-
ter, and has not made any statements in favor of
either side, it is evident that the controversy pre-
sents more than common interest to the player
industry and trade. Consequently it is only fair that
the claims set forth by the Chicago industry, in
opposition to those of the eastern corporation, in
the trade papers, be given place.
Quality—Supremacy—EBE—New York
WESSELL, NICKEL & GROSS
^"XSBSK
\.
Manufacturers of
j « S
PIANO ACTIONS
HIGHEST GRADE
J ^ ^ M S ^ ^ ^
l ^ e ^ ^ ^
J
XJX^^U^^^/
W««t Forty-Fifth Street, Tenth
AT.HU.
and Wo«t
Forty-Sixth Stravt.
lhe Sign of Supreme
!
ONE GRADE ONLY
FACTORIES:
VSUMIHB/
WHERE THE ROADMEN
WERE SEEN THIS WEEK
Energetic Missionaries in the Cause of Piano
Sales Encountered on the Joyous Job
in Many Places.
W. B. Marshall, general sales manager for Kra-
kauer Bros., New York, spent Thanksgiving with his
family at his home in West Bedford, Mass. Mr.
Marshall had ended a long trip through the South
and West, where he had appointed many new Kra-
kauer agencies.
Fred Grebe's New York friends will not see him
until Christmas, when he will return from his tour
of the Middle West. The sales department of Kra-
nich & Bach is kept posted on his movements by
the receipt of letters and satisfying orders.
I. N. Rice, the piano traveler, is enjoying the No-
vember weather of Los Angeles, Calif. In a letter
to a friend in Chicago this week he appreciated the
balmy joys of Southern California all the more when
the national weather reports recorded 15 above in
Desplaines, 111.
W. S. Dunn, traveler for C. Kurtzmann & Com-
pany, Buffalo, N. Y., was in Chicago on Monday of
this week and attended the noonday luncheon of
the Piano Club of Chicago on that day. The meet-
ing was an interesting one.
Lem Kline, head of the Rex Piano Mfg. Company,
Chicago, has returned from his extensive trip through
the Southwest.
Albert F. Price, vice-president of the Price &
Teeple Piano Company, Chicago, started on Mondajr
night of this week for a trip through the Southwest.
Henry P. Veatch, Chicago manager of the Pack-
ard Piano Company, was at Fort Wayne, Ind., at
U. Urquhart, manager of the General Action Com-
pany, New York, was in Chicago on Thursday of
this week calling on the manufacturers. He re-
mained in the city until Saturday. To a Presto
representative on Thursday Mr. Urquhart said that
while business generally in New York at the present
time is slack, owing to deflation by large employers
and a disposition on the part of the purchasing pub-
lice to buy very cautiously, there is still piano trade
for the salesmen who hustle for it.
C. E. Jackson, wholesale manager of The Cable
Company, Chicago, is on a trip through the East.
Tn the want adv. department of Presto there is an
unusual announcement. It pertains to a lot of
phonograph tables which were picked up near Gary,
Ind., by a reader of this paper. The turn-tables
seem to have been dropped from a truck and the
package, which bore no address, was for a local
delivery, perhaps. The opportunity now opens for
someone to reclaim the lost goods.
CABLE-NELSON PIANO CO,
Manufactures fine pianos and player-pianos and
Wholesales them at fair prices and terms.
The agency is a source of both
profit and prestige.
REPUBLIC BUILDING, CHICAGO
«7 We.t 45th Str««t
mfim
23
O
^:r^'
N E W YORK
Comstock, Cheney & Co*
Ivory Cutters and Manufacturers
Piano Keys, Actions * Hammers
WORY \ N D COMPOSITION-COVERED ORGAN KEYS
f»i* only Com( any Furnishing the Keys, Actions Hammsrs and Braokets Compfc**
The Best High-Grade Piano for the Money
Newman Bros. Pianos have tonal quality second to none.
Their many superior points and their forty-six years of pres-
tige give the dealer interesting facts to '.ell his prospects.
When you take on the Newman line of pianos and players you
become one of us, and we give you real help when you need it.
Don't just think we are a fine firm to deal with, find out for
sure and you will stay right with us.
Newman Bros. Company
Factories, 806-16 Dix St.
f'«ft£grapb a n d R . R. S t a t i o n J Essex 3 C o n n .
Chicago, Illinois
Office a n d F a c t o r i e s ? t v o r y t o n , CtoflSS&-
FOR TONE, BEAUTY
AND LASTING
a
ACCOMPLISHMENT ,
-AUTO-PLAYER ~
The WERNER INDUSTRIES CO. Cine
P I A N O S
AMD
P f. A.V E R S
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).