Red Polled Cattle Club of Am. v. Red Polled Cattle Club of Am.

• Decision Date: 07 April 1899
• Citation: 108 Iowa 105,78 N.W. 803
• Parties: RED POLLED CATTLE CLUB OF AMERICA v. RED POLLED CATTLE CLUB OF AMERICA ET AL.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

108 Iowa 105

78 N.W. 803

RED POLLED CATTLE CLUB OF AMERICA

v.RED POLLED CATTLE CLUB OF AMERICA ET AL.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 7, 1899.

Appeal from district court, Jackson county; C. M. Waterman, Judge.

The following are facts conceded or found in this case: That the plaintiff is a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Illinois, and the defendant is a corporation organized under the laws of Iowa; that in 1883 various breeders of red polled cattle formed or acted together as a society or club in the interest of that breed of cattle, and called themselves the Red Polled Cattle Club of America, the society being unincorporated; that there was no such thing as stock, or any different interest than that of each alike paying an equal amount,--five dollars,--based on the idea of meeting expenses; that on November 20, 1893, some 15 of these breeders met in Chicago, informally organized the so-called Red Polled Cattle Club of America, appointed committees to report a standard for this breed of cattle in America and to report a constitution and by-laws, and at the same meeting adopted reports from these committees so doing, and elected officers; that by 1889, when the regular organization published its second volume of the herd book, there were some 75 members acting with it; that at the second annual meeting, in November, 1884, it was decided to publish a herd book, and the labor of publishing it was intrusted to L. F. Ross, who was elected president, and J. C. Murray, who was elected secretary, and which was done entirely by Murray; that in 1887 volume 1 of the American Red Polled Herd Book was published by J. C. Murray, and copyrighted by him, which contained, in addition to the register of cattle, the information usual in a first volume of such a book; that in 1888 the unincorporated society did incorporate in the state of Illinois, under the name of the Red Polled Cattle Club of America; that in 1895 the defendant became incorporated under the laws of Iowa, the defendant Murray being a member thereof, he having also been a member of the unincorporated society in Illinois, and, as we find, a member of the corporation in that state; that in 1890 the plaintiff corporation published its first volume of a herd book, and has since continued its publication; that the plaintiff corporation succeeded to the rights and benefits of the unincorporated society from which it was organized; that defendant Murray, in editing and publishing two volumes of the herd book while a member of the unincorporated society, did so as its secretary and editor; that, while he copyrighted said books in his own name, he had no right thereto; that the defendant corporation took the identical name of the plaintiff corporation, and is pursuing the same aims and purposes, and it is charged by plaintiff that it is with a purpose to defraud and injure it in its business; that the defendant Murray, for the purpose of injuring plaintiff, has made a pretended assignment of volumes 1 and 2 of herd book to the defendant corporation, and relief by way of injunction, and otherwise, is asked. Upon the issues joined, a trial was had in the district court, that gave judgment for plaintiff, from which the defendants appealed. Affirmed.Hayes and Schuyler, for appellants.

Davison & Lane and Preston & Moffitt, for appellee.

GRANGER, J.

1. To the answer were filed 67 interrogatories to be answered by the plaintiff. To the interrogatories from 1 to 64, the plaintiff filed exceptions and objections, and a ground thereof was that the questions were frivolous, unimportant, and incompetent to elicit material evidence; and by the exceptions it was further made to appear that some of the officers and members of the plaintiff corporation having knowledge of the facts resided in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and that it would be impracticable to obtain full and explicit answers to the interrogations that were material prior to the trial of the cause, when such officers and members as had such knowledge would be present, and could be used on the trial to show the facts. The answer to which the interrogatories were attached was filed April 24, 1896, and it appears from the record that the cause was submitted to the court on the 30th of the same month. The interrogatories must have been filed when the case was expected to proceed to trial, and when, if it did so proceed, the answers could not be made before trial. It is true that many of the interrogatories are unimportant, and answers to them should not have been required. Under the holding of Hogaboom v. Price, 53 Iowa, 703, 6 N. W. 43, the ruling was right on this particular ground. We may refer in this connection to a complaint based on a refusal by the court to strike certain averments from the reply. Whatever may be said as to the technical correctness of such averments in the reply, the issues were in no way changed because of them, as the same facts had before been pleaded and became material under issues otherwise joined.

2. The legal contention is over the right of the defendant corporation to use the name “Red Polled Cattle Club of America.” That it has...