In the Thomas v. Western Car Company case of 1892, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Western Car Company. The dispute arose when Thomas claimed that he had a patent for an invention related to railway car couplings and accused Western Car Co. of infringing upon his patent rights by using his invention without permission or compensation. However, after examining the evidence presented before them, the court found that there was no infringement on part of Western Car Co., as their design was significantly different from what was described in Thomas's patent claim. Furthermore, it appeared that some elements present in Thomas’s patented device were already known and used prior to his supposed invention which further weakened his argument about exclusive rights over such mechanisms under patents law.

In the dissenting opinion for Thomas v. Western Car Company, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a patent on an invention that had been in public use for more than two years prior to its application contradicted established legal precedent. The dissent emphasized that under U.S law, if an invention is used by the public without restriction and not kept secret by the inventor for over two years before filing a patent application, it cannot be patented. They contended that this rule aims to prevent inventors from benefiting from their inventions indefinitely without seeking patents while also preventing others from using these innovations freely. In this case, they believed Thomas' car-coupling device had been publicly used beyond this period before he sought his patent; thus rendering his claim invalid according to existing laws at the time.