United Brotherhood, Etc. v. Carpenters and J. Union, 10664.

• Decision Date: 07 October 1937
• Docket Number: No. 10664.,10664.
• Parties: UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, CARPENTERS UNION NO. 213, v. CARPENTERS AND JOINERS UNION OF TEXAS.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

110 S.W.2d 1209

UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, CARPENTERS UNION NO. 213, v. CARPENTERS AND JOINERS UNION OF TEXAS.

No. 10664.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas. Galveston.

October 7, 1937.

Rehearing Denied December 16, 1937.

Appeal from District Court, Harris County; Ewing Boyd, Judge.

Suit by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Carpenters Union, No. 213, against the Carpenters and Joiners Union of Texas. From a judgment sustaining a general demurrer to its petition, plaintiff appeals.

Affirmed.

Sewall Myer, of Houston, for appellant.

Thomas B. Lewis, of Houston, for appellee.

CODY, Justice.

This suit was instituted January 15, 1937 in one of the district courts of Harris county by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Carpenters Union No. 213, against the defendant corporation, Carpenters and Joiners Union of Texas. The suit is for damages, and for a temporary and permanent injunction prohibiting defendant from making use of its corporate name, and from advertising and representing defendant as a union labor organization, as being unfair competition. The court below sustained a general demurrer to plaintiff's petition for a temporary injunction, and plaintiffs appeal.

Plaintiffs' petition covers some 15 pages of the transcript, but in substance the allegations are these: That the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Carpenters Union No. 213, is affiliated with the Texas, and with the American Federation of Labor, and received its charter and the right to use its name in September, 1909, and has become known in Houston and vicinity as the Union Carpenters and Joiners Organization of Houston: that the labor performed by its members is that of carpenters and joiners, and by skillful labor, a fair course of dealing, and an honorable fulfillment of their engagements, they have built up a reputation and good will of great value, which is a property right that a court of equity will protect against unfair competition: that for a long time local union No. 213 has been known to the public and trade in Harris county and vicinity as the Union of Carpenters and Joiners, and its members as union carpenters and joiners: that the word "union" as used in as a part of the name of a labor organization, is understood in Harris county and vicinity to be a union labor organization affiliated with the American, and the Texas Federation of Labor; and the public knows that the members of such unions are required to maintain a high standard of efficiency and integrity, and to respect their contracts of employment by the rules, regulations, and business policy of the American Federation of Labor and its subordinate and composite associations; that they have raised, stabilized, and established uniform wages that are paid for the services of their members and labor in general, and have required and forced into use, various and sundry appliances and protection for their members, and have established and maintained the right to collective bargaining for labor; that this was known to defendant and to persons organizing defendant corporation and to its membership; that the incorporation of defendant as Carpenters and Joiners Union of Texas, and especially the inclusion of the word "union" in its corporate name, is an illegal effort to overreach and take from local union No. 213, and its membership, the good will and good reputation established by local union No. 213, and its membership, to demoralize it and break down the prevailing wage scale, and to deceive and mislead the public into believing that when it is dealing with defendant, it is dealing with local union No. 213: that defendant is advertising and representing itself, and will continue so to do, to the public as a labor union organization, and its members as union men; and the public are, and will continue to be, deceived into believing that defendants are a part of, and affiliated with, the American Labor Union men and women who compose the membership of the American Federation of Labor and the local union No. 213; that the public are dealing with, and will continue to do so, defendant and its membership in the mistaken belief that defendant is a union organization, and its members union men, as those terms are almost universally understood; that all of this will be the result of the similarity of the corporate name of defendant to the long established and used name of local union No. 213, and especially to the use of the word "union" in its corporate name; that the use of defendant's corporate name and the word "union" therein, will, in reasonable probability, deceive and mislead persons of ordinary prudence into believing that defendant and its members are the same or a part of local union No. 213 and its membership, and of the union labor movement as herein pleaded, while the contrary is the fact; that by including the word "union" in its corporate name, defendant has unlawfully appropriated and is using a distinctive portion of the name of local union No. 213, and will mislead the public and result in confusion and an unfair practice competition with local union No. 213, as the word "union" has acquired a secondary meaning, and the exclusive right to use the word "union" in the names of labor organizations is in local union No. 213, and the other organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.

The petition goes on, after stating facts showing the membership of local union No. 213 and the membership of defendant are competitors, to allege that within a short and reasonable time after defendant began to operate under its corporate name, plaintiffs, through their members and their local and international officers, contacted defendant and its membership and sought by all peaceable means to induce them to discontinue the use of defendant's corporate name and to disband and dissolve defendant corporation, and to induce its members to join local union No. 213, and to refrain from infringing upon plaintiffs' name and rights and to refrain from doing the various and sundry other things complained of, which defendant did not refuse to do until about January 6, 1937, and until that date plaintiffs believed defendant would comply with their demands, and that defendant is estopped from claiming laches on the part of plaintiffs in bringing this action.

The petition concludes with a prayer for a temporary injunction against defendant, enjoining defendant, its agents and members, from using its corporate name "as herein pleaded, and from doing each and all of the acts and things pleaded and charged against defendant." The prayer further asks judgment for damages in the sum of $100,000; and that defendant, its officers, agents, and members be permanently enjoined from using its corporate name for any purpose, and from claiming, advertising, and representing defendant as a "union" labor organization and its members as "union" laborers.

Plaintiffs contend that, as against the general demurrer, the allegations of the petition must be taken as constructively true, and that, as the allegation that defendant has...