Standard Oil Co. v. California Peach & Fig Growers

• Decision Date: 01 October 1928
• Docket Number: No. 651.,651.
• Citation: 28 F.2d 283
• Parties: STANDARD OIL CO. v. CALIFORNIA PEACH & FIG GROWERS, Inc.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Delaware

28 F.2d 283 (1928)

STANDARD OIL CO. v. CALIFORNIA PEACH & FIG GROWERS, Inc.

No. 651.

District Court, D. Delaware.

October 1, 1928.

Edward S. Rogers, of New York City, and William G. Mahaffy, of Wilmington, Del., for plaintiff.

A. W. Boyken (of Miller & Boyken), of San Francisco, Cal., and James I. Boyce, of Wilmington, Del., for defendant.

MORRIS, District Judge.

The basic question here presented is one of trade-mark infringement. "Nujol," a coined, arbitrary word, was adopted, used, and registered by the plaintiff in the year 1915 as its trademark for refined mineral oil for use in the treatment of constipation. Three subsequent registrations for other uses have been made. Between the time of its adoption and the end of 1926, the plaintiff sold more than 27,000,000 bottles so labeled, and by the end of 1927 it had invested more than $6,000,000 in advertisements in which "Nujol" was prominently featured.

In 1926 "NUJOL treated FIGS," a laxative, processed, packed, and labeled by the defendant, appeared upon the market. To justify its use of plaintiff's trade-mark, the defendant takes the position that no one receiving a package of figs would believe that he was receiving a bottle of oil, that the two articles are not of the same class, and that plaintiff's exclusive right to the use of its mark is limited to goods of the same class.

It is true, I think, that since a trade-mark confers on its owner no right in gross or at large, like a statutory copyright or a patent for an invention, United Drug Co. v. Rectanus Co., 248 U. S. 90, 97, 39 S. Ct. 48, 63 L. Ed. 141, and since its sole office is to indicate that the goods of the same general class to which it is attached emanate from a single source or reach the consumer through the same channels of trade, Hanover Milling Co. v. Metcalf, 240 U. S. 403, 412-413, 36 S. Ct. 357, 60 L. Ed. 713, the proprietor of a trade-mark is without right to forbid or exclude the use of the same mark, words, or symbol by another upon goods of a class and quality so different from those of the original user as to preclude the probability that purchasers will be misled into believing that the different articles spring from a common source, Schechter's Historical Foundations of Trade-Mark Law, pp. 146-150; Nims on Unfair Competition and Trade-Marks, § 221; Hanover Milling Co. v. Metcalf, 240 U. S. 403, 412-413, 36 S. Ct. 357, 60 L. Ed. 713; for in the absence of such confusion in the minds of purchasers the use of the mark by another brings about no interference with the trade-mark owner's right of "reasonable expectation of future patronage," E. S. Rogers, Good Will, Trade-Marks, and Unfair Trading, p. 13. But goods are of the same general class when either their general and essential characteristics are the same, Phœnix Paint, etc., Co. v. Lewis, 32 App. D. C. 285, or when, for any other reason, they are so related or associated, either in fact or in the mind of the public, that a common trade-mark would probably lead purchasers to conclude that the several articles have a common origin, Duro Co. v. Duro Co., 27 F.(2d) 339 (C. C. A. 3); Akron-Overland Tire Co. v. Willys-Overland Co., 273 F. 674 (C. C. A. 3); Aunt Jemima Mills Co. v. Rigney & Co., 247 F. 407 (C. C. A. 2); Eastman Co. v. Kodak Cycle Co., 15 R. P. C. 105. Moreover, the owner of a trade-mark "truly arbitrary, strange, and fanciful" is entitled to a monopoly of use for his mark in a wider field than is he who employs a mark not of that character. France Milling Co. v. Washburn-Crosby Co., Inc. (C. C. A.) 7 F.(2d) 304, 306.

"Nujol" and "NUJOL treated FIGS" are both offered to the public as a specific for the same human ailment. Both are sold by druggists. They are exhibited side by side on their shelves. That they are of the same general class, and that a common mark must inevitably lead to the belief of common origin, cannot, I think, be open to serious doubt.

In further justification of its use of the word "Nujol," the defendant relies upon the fact, established by the evidence, that the figs are treated with plaintiff's product, "Nujol," bought in the open market. It contends that, in view of this fact, it is manifest that the designation of the product as "NUJOL treated FIGS" is wholly accurate, that the statements made upon the cartons are true, that if purchasers are led into mistakes such consequence is not due to any false representation, and that it is well established that equity will not enjoin the telling of truth.

That equity will not enjoin against telling the truth may be accepted as a sound general principle. Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. v. Clark, 13 Wall. 311, 20 L. Ed. 581. It is likewise clear that one who buys another's goods may — ordinarily, Bourjois & Co. v. Katzel, 260 U. S. 689, 43 S. Ct. 244, 67 L. Ed. 464, 26 A. L. R. 567 — use, or sell them with the latter's trade-mark upon them. Gorham Mfg. Co. v. Emery-Bird-Thayer Dry-Goods Co. (C. C.) 92 F. 774; Vitascope Co. v. United States Phonograph Co. (C. C.) 83 F. 30.

Again, the right of the purchaser of genuine trade-marked bulk goods to divide the bulk into smaller quantities and sell the smaller packages under the trade-mark, though not so broad and general as to exist under all circumstances, Krauss v. Jos. R. Peebles' Sons Co. (C. C.) 58 F. 585; Coca-Cola Co. v. Bennett (C. C. A.) 238 F. 513 (C. C. A. 8); Knight v. Milner (D. C.) 283 F. 816, is well recognized, particularly if clear disclosure is made that the dividing and repacking are not done by the owner of the mark, Russia Cement Co. v. Frauenhar (C. C. A.) 133 F. 518; Apollinaris Co. v. Scherer (C. C.) 27 F. 18.

The mere fact, however, that genuine goods are used by their purchaser as an ingredient of a combination confers no right upon him to use the trade-mark of that ingredient as the trade-mark for the new article. Ingersoll v. Doyle (D. C.) 247 F. 620; Lambert Pharmacal Co. v. Listerated Co. (D. C.) 24 F.(2d) 122. But such purchaser may state the nature of the component parts, the source from which they were derived, and may use on his own labels or cartons the name designating the purchased ingredient to show the true relation of that ingredient to the new article or combination offered by him for sale, provided such name be used collaterally and in a manner not to lead the public to believe that the new product and the ingredient emanate from the same source. Prestonettes, Inc., v. Coty, 264 U. S. 359, 44 S. Ct. 350, 68 L. Ed. 731. When, however, a defendant makes use of another's trade-name or trade-mark, the burden is upon him to justify such use and to show that the right, if any, has been exercised...