Crompton v. Williams
| Decision Date | 25 November 1913 |
| Citation | 216 Mass. 184,103 N.E. 298 |
| Parties | CROMPTON v. WILLIAMS; CHARLES CROMPTON & SONS, Inc. v. WILLIAMS. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Arthur
G Wadleigh and Fredk. E. Shaw, both of Lynn, for plaintiffs.
Wm Reed Bigelow, of Boston, for defendant.
If the automobile operated and controlled by the plaintiff corporation was not properly registered, it was unlawfully upon the highway, and neither plaintiff can recover, although the collision would not have occurred but for the defendant's negligence. St. 1909, c. 534, § 2; Bourne v. Whitman, 209 Mass. 155, 172, 95 N.E. 404, 35 L. R. A (N. S.) 701. The statute provides that the application must contain, in addition to such other particulars as the commission may require, a statement of the name, place of residence, and address of the applicant with a brief description of the motor vehicle. St. 1909, c. 534, § 2. Prior to the formation of the corporation, Charles Crompton the owner and licensed operator of the car, and to whom we shall refer as the plaintiff, carried on business under the name of 'Charles Crompton & Sons.' A corporation, a partnership, or an individual may adopt a trade-name under which business can be transacted, actions instituted, or defended, and the title to property acquired and transmitted. Gifford v. Rockett, 121 Mass. 431; Phipps v. Little, 213 Mass. 414, 416, 100 N.E. 615, and cases cited. The plaintiff's application and the registration followed the name in which he did business. But if registration under a fictitious name adopted for the purpose of concealing identity would not be a compliance with the statute, because the record would not show, nor the certificate contain a descriptive statement by which the true owner could be ascertained, the jury could properly find that the plaintiff was well known in the community by his trade-name. If this appeared the requirements of the statute were satisfied. Nor is the right of recovery barred by the failure of the plaintiff to comply with St. 1907, c. 539, St. 1908, c. 316, which provides that individuals engaged in business under names other than their own shall file with the clerk of the city or town in which the place of business is situated a certificate stating the full name and residence of each person by whom it is conducted. The act is intended for the information and protection of creditors with whom...
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Doyle v. Goldberg
... ... sufficient in the ordinary case to satisfy one main purpose ... of the statute as to the easy identification of the ... registrant. Crompton v. Williams, 216 Mass. 184, ... 187, 103 N.E. 298; Rolli v. Converse, 227 Mass. 162, ... 165, 116 N.E. 507; Koley v. Williams, 265 Mass. 601, ... ...
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Bridges v. Hart
...a statement of the name of the applicant, who, in the case at bar, was the owner, the court said in Crompton v. Williams, 216 Mass. 184, at pages 186, 187, 103 N.E. 298, at page 299, ‘* * * an individual may adopt a trade-name under which business can be transacted, actions instituted, or d......
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...to transact business and to sue or be sued either in that name or in his own seems to be generally recognized. Crompton v. Williams, 216 Mass. 184, 186, 187, 103 N. E. 298;Rand v. Farquhar, 226 Mass. 91, 97, 115 N. E. 286;Lewis v. Scoville, 94 Conn. 79, 85,108 A. 501.G. L. c. 231, § 30, pro......
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