National Circle, Daughters of Isabella, v. National Order of Daughters of Isabella

• Decision Date: 15 December 1920
• Docket Number: 56.
• Citation: 270 F. 723
• Parties: NATIONAL CIRCLE, DAUGHTERS OF ISABELLA, v.. NATIONAL ORDER OF DAUGHTERS OF ISABELLA.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

270 F. 723

NATIONAL CIRCLE, DAUGHTERS OF ISABELLA, v.. NATIONAL ORDER OF DAUGHTERS OF ISABELLA.

No. 56.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

December 15, 1920

Mills &amp Mills, of Albany, N.Y. (Charles F. Roberts, of New Haven Conn., and Howard F. Landon, of Salisbury, Conn., of counsel), for complainant.

P. H Fitzgerald, of Utica, N.Y., for defendant.

Before ROGERS, HOUGH, and MANTON, Circuit Judges.

ROGERS Circuit Judge.

This case presents the question whether the complainant is entitled to enjoin the defendant and all its subordinate branches and lodges from using the name 'Daughters of Isabella.'

The complainant and the defendant are composed of women of the Catholic faith, and they are organized for religious and fraternal purposes. The complainant's charter states that:

'The objects and purposes of said corporation shall be to render pecuniary aid and assistance to sick and distressed members and to the beneficiaries of members whether such sickness be temporary or incurable, and to render pecuniary aid toward defraying the funeral expenses of members, and to promote social and intellectual intercourse among its members.'

The particular objects for which the defendant was incorporated as stated in its certificate for incorporation are:

'A. For the purpose of promoting the social and intellectual standing of its members.

'B. For literary purposes.

'C. For the purpose of rendering such aid and assistance among its members as shall be desirable and proper, and by such lawful means as to them shall seem best.' The defendant was incorporated on June 24, 1903, under the name 'Daughters of Isabella,' and in June 1905 it petitioned the Supreme Court of the state of New York to change its name to 'The National Order of the Daughters of Isabella. ' Its petition was granted on August 7, 1905.

The defendant's articles of incorporation contain no express provision for the establishment of branches.

The incorporation of the Connecticut association on March 7, 1904, contained no provision for the establishment of branches. But its articles of incorporation were amended on November 5, 1904, and as amended the power was obtained to establish branches in Connecticut and elsewhere.

The complainant's charter, granted on July 25, 1907, reads as follows:

'Said corporation shall have power to locate and establish state and district circles, local or subordinate circles, or other branches or divisions thereof under the name of Daughters of Isabella, composed of members of the order in any town or city in this state or in any other state of the United States, or in any other country, and said state, district, or local circles, or other branches or divisions, when so established, shall be governed and managed by such laws, by-laws, rules, and regulations against any such state, district, or local circle or circles, or other branches or divisions in any court of this state or of any other state in the United States, and said corporation may grant charters to such state, district, or local circles, or other branches or divisions, and may authorize such state, district, or local circles to make subject to the approval of the national or some authorized officer thereof, such local by-laws as the needs of any state, district, or local or subordinate circle, or other branch or division may seem to require.'

The defendant soon after its incorporation began to organize subordinate lodges or branches in different states. It had at the time this case was considered below some 300 branches or courts with a membership of some 25,000.

The complainant in this case alleges in substance that the defendant upon its incorporation in the state of New York appropriated a name similar to that of a then existing voluntary association in the state of Connecticut, which was the predecessor in title and interest of the complainant, and adopted a ritual, odes, and ceremonies substantially similar to those in use by such voluntary organization and which were later adopted and used by the complainant. It is also alleged that defendant has established and is creating local branches or lodges using the words 'The Daughters of Isabella,' which are the words used by the complainant in designating its branches or councils, and that this has caused great confusion and uncertainty in the minds of many persons and has deceived many inducing them to join with the latter's branches under the belief that they are the branches of the complainant. The complaint asks an injunction restraining the defendant from establishing any further branches in any part of the United States under the name 'Daughters of Isabella,' and of any name so similar thereto as to be likely to deceive or induce persons to join or treat with it as the complainant, and it also seeks to restrain and enjoin the defendant and all its subordinate branches and lodges from using or continuing to use such name or any name so similar thereto as to be likely to create confusion, or to deceive the public or to induce persons to join or treat with the same as the complainant. And an accounting of damages and loss of income and profits is asked.

It appears that in May, 1897, at New Haven, Conn., there was organized a voluntary secret fraternal benefit association by women of the Catholic faith under the name of 'The Ladies' Auxiliary of Russell Council, No. 65, Knights of Columbus. ' That from the time of its formation the members called each other 'Daughters of Isabella.' The organization adopted a constitution and a ritual. In 1898 the association appointed a committee to consider the matter of incorporating under the name 'Daughters of Isabella,' but took no further action at that time. In 1901 the association adopted, and its members began to wear, a society pin on which appeared letters and symbols indicating 'Daughters of Isabella' and by that name the members were commonly known among themselves and to the public. This association was incorporated on March 7, 1904, under the laws of the state of Connecticut, and under the name 'Daughters of Isabella, No. 1, Auxiliary to Russell Council, No. 65, Knights of Columbus. ' The aforesaid corporation was organized by the members of the original voluntary association, and it adopted the same constitution, used the same ceremonies, ritual, songs, society pin, and insignia, and continued to carry out the plans and purposes of the original voluntary association, and to use and be known by the name of 'Daughters of Isabella.' It was the successor in title and in all other respects to the rights of the original voluntary association, including the right to use the name 'Daughters of Isabella.' In November, 1904, its articles of incorporation were amended and it was empowered to establish branches under the name of 'Daughters of Isabella.' By a special act of the General Assembly of the state of Connecticut, approved on July 25, 1907, all of the incorporators named in the articles of incorporation of March 7, 1904, were on their application and the application of the subordinate branches granted a charter incorporating them under the name of 'The National Circle, Daughters of Isabella,' with power to establish branches within the state and elsewhere. And this second corporation used substantially the same ceremonies, ritual, songs, society pin, and insignia, and continued to carry out the purposes of the first corporation. The National Circle, Daughters of Isabella, has continued ever since to be the successor to all the rights and privileges of the original voluntary association including the right to the use of the name 'Daughters of Isabella.'

It also appears that as early as the year 1899 the National Secretary of the Knights of Columbus was receiving from time to time inquiries from various sections of the country regarding the 'Daughters of Isabella,' and that such inquiries were referred by him to the officers of the voluntary association at New Haven already referred to. Prior to the organization of the defendant one Michael F. Kelly of Utica, N.Y., was at New Haven, and there discussed with the National Secretary of the Knights of Columbus the voluntary association of the Catholic women that there existed, and obtained from him the name of its presiding officer, and from her he obtained copies of the ritual and installation exercises then being used by such voluntary association. Later Kelly was instrumental in organizing the Catholic women of Utica into the defendant organization under the name 'The Daughters of Isabella' which was incorporated on June 24, 1903, under the laws of the state of New York. He furnished to the New York corporation the basic idea of that organization, which, on its petition to the Supreme Court of the state of New York, had its name changed on and after September 15, 1905, so that it should be thereafter known as 'The National Order of the Daughters of Isabella. ' This corporation is not under its articles of incorporation, expressly empowered to organize or institute subordinate lodges or courts or branches, but it has nevertheless done so in various states.

It appears that the New York organization prior to April 4 1904, had no branch or court in the state of Connecticut, but on that date it established a branch at Naugatuck in that state. Some time in April or May of that year the New York corporation, defendant herein, applied to the Secretary of State in Connecticut for leave to file a copy of its articles of association preliminary to its beginning business in that state and was refused because of the practical identity of its name with that of the Connecticut corporation. In January, 1905, it applied to the General Assembly of Connecticut to incorporate it in that state under the name ...