The Patapsco was a Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of navigational rights. The case involved a dispute between the United States and the State of Maryland over the navigational rights of the Patapsco River. The United States argued that the navigational rights of the river belonged to the federal government, while the State of Maryland argued that the navigational rights belonged to the state. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with the United States, ruling that the navigational rights of the Patapsco River belonged to the federal government. The Court reasoned that the navigational rights of the river were part of the public domain, and thus belonged to the federal government. The Court also noted that the navigational rights of the river had been recognized by the United States since the time of the Revolution. The Court's decision in The Patapsco established a precedent that navigational rights of rivers and other bodies of water are part of the public domain and thus belong to the federal government. This decision has been cited in numerous subsequent cases involving navigational rights.

In The Patapsco, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a patent for an invention of a new and useful improvement in steam boilers had been infringed upon by another party. In this case, Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion that argued against the majority's decision which held that there was no infringement on the patent. He believed that while it may be true that some of the elements used in both inventions were similar, they were not identical and thus could not constitute infringement. Furthermore, he argued that even if one element did match up with another from different patents or inventions, it would still not necessarily mean there was any infringement because other elements might differ significantly enough to make them distinct products. Ultimately Justice Field concluded his dissent by stating "the question is one of fact as well as law" and should have been decided differently than what had been determined by the majority opinion.