In the case of American Steel Foundries v. Whitehead, Commissioner of Patent in 1920, the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a dispute over patent rights. The American Steel Foundries had applied for an extension to their existing patent for a railway car truck bolster and side frame connection design. However, this was denied by Edward B. Moore, then Commissioner of Patents who argued that there were no new inventions or improvements made to justify an extension. The court held that while it is within the power of Congress to extend patents beyond their original term under certain circumstances such as when public interest is served or if justice requires it; these extensions should not be granted lightly and must meet strict criteria set out in law. In this particular case, Justice Day delivered the opinion stating that since there was no evidence showing any extraordinary circumstance like those mentioned above nor did they find any proof suggesting negligence or misfortune on part of inventors which could have prevented them from reaping benefits during initial term; hence denying request for extension was justified.

In the dissenting opinion for American Steel Foundries v. Whitehead, Commissioner of Patent, 1920, it was argued that the patent in question should not have been invalidated. The dissenting justices believed that there was a clear distinction between the patented invention and prior art. They pointed out that while similar machines existed before this one's creation, none performed its specific function or achieved its particular results until after it had been invented. Therefore, they contended that novelty and utility were present in this case - key requirements for patentability under U.S law at the time - making invalidation inappropriate. Furthermore, they disagreed with majority’s interpretation of “invention” as requiring an element of discovery rather than mere mechanical skill or knowledge; to them such narrow definition could potentially stifle innovation by discouraging incremental improvements on existing technologies.