Kilbourn v. Sunderland was a Supreme Court case decided in 1877. The case involved a dispute between two railroad companies, the Kilbourn and the Sunderland, over the right to use a certain stretch of track. The Kilbourn had been granted a charter by the state of Wisconsin to build a railroad, and the Sunderland had been granted a charter to build a railroad in the same area. The Kilbourn argued that the Sunderland had no right to use the track, as it was part of the Kilbourn's charter. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Kilbourn, finding that the Sunderland had no right to use the track without the permission of the Kilbourn. The Court held that the Kilbourn had the exclusive right to use the track, and that the Sunderland had no right to use it without the Kilbourn's permission. The Court also held that the Kilbourn had the right to charge the Sunderland for the use of the track. This case established the principle that a railroad company has the exclusive right to use its own track, and that other companies must obtain permission before using it.

In the Supreme Court case of Kilbourn v. Sunderland, Justice Field delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the majority’s decision was incorrect and should be overturned. He believed that Congress had not intended to grant exclusive jurisdiction over patent cases to federal courts when it passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, as this would have been an unconstitutional delegation of power from Congress to the judiciary branch. Instead, he argued that state courts were still allowed to hear such cases if they chose to do so. Furthermore, Justice Field noted that there had been no precedent for granting exclusive jurisdiction over patent cases until 1839 and thus any decisions made prior did not support this interpretation by the majority opinion. In conclusion, Justice Field disagreed with his colleagues on both legal grounds and historical evidence regarding whether or not state courts could hear patent disputes under existing law at the time of Kilbourn v Sunderland's ruling in 1880.