The writer maintains: "This decision by the Supreme Court was unquestionably a very great surprise to many, as it is not only directly in conflict with an almost unbroken line of decisions of the inferior federal courts," beginning with the "Button-Fastener" case, and "it is also nearly impossible to reconcile this decision" with "Henry v. A. B. Dick Co." As for the "Dick" case, the writer continues, "It was generally thought that in the "Dick" case the Supreme Court had expressly committed itself to the doctrine that the patentee could require the user to comply with any conditions which he might choose to impose." He considers the distinction drawn with that case to be flimsy and not "clear, sound, or convincing."