93 Tenn. 84 | Tenn. | 1893
Prior to the year 1840, one A. Q. Simmons, a farmer in Walker County, Georgia, having come into possession, in some manner not clearly disclosed by the proof, of a secret formula for the making of a valuable liver medicine, Avas accustomed to prepare it in small quantities for use in his own family and in the families of his neighbors. It does not satisfactorily appear that he made any for sale.
In 1840, or about that time, one M. A. Simmons, a young physician, and son of A. Q. Simmons, being at his father’s house, they conceived the idea, of preparing the medicine together for market. The two together made up the first lot of it for sale, M. A. Simmons, with his father’s assistance, writing the first prescription or direc
On the seventeenth day of October, 1856, Dr. A. Q. Simmons gave to his son, C. A. Simmons, a paper-writing, authorizing him to “make all my medicines, and to use my name in preparing, selling, and advertising all of my medicines,” etc., A. Q. Simmons having been the manufacturer of other medicines also, besides the “ Liver Medicine.” Immediately after this authority was given him, he began to manufacture under it, and manufactured and sold under it continuously, except for a short period during the Civil War, when he could not get the material, down to 1868. From 1856 down to 1865, he called his preparation “ Dr. C. A. Simmons’ Liver Medicine,” but in 1865, be gave it the name, “ Dr. Simmons’ Liver Regulator,” and sold it in that name until 1868.
On the thirtieth day of September, 1868, C. A. Simmons sold his certificate, together with a knowledge of the formula for the making of the liver
In 1868 or 1869, after Zeilin & Co.’s purchase,. Dr. M. A. Simmons changed his label so as to read, “Dr. M. A. Simmons’ Vegetable Liver Medicine,” the change consisting in the insertion of the initials “ M. A.” to distinguish his preparation of the remedy from that of Zeilin & Co.
On November 1, 1870, Zeilin & Co. registered in the patent-office at "Washington, a “wrapper or label or a trade-mark for said medicine,” being an exact copy of that previously filed in the' United States Distinct Court for the Southern District of Georgia. It should be noted, however (a fact not previously mentioned), that both of said wrappers also contained the following caution: “ Owing to the imitations and counterfeits of this valuable medicine, we are compelled, at a great expense, to change to this style of wrapper. None genuine without it, and the signature of A. Q. Simmons,” the name of J. II. Zeilin & Co. being written in
On March 10, 1874, Dr. M. A. Simmons registered his trade-mark in the patent-office at Washington, with the following specifications: “ My trademark consists of the words, ‘Dr. Simmons’ Vegetable Liver Medicine’ placed on a label above a portrait of myself, and a fac-simile of the signature, 1 M. A. Simmons, M D.,’ on the lower part of the label at the right hand, as represented in the accompanying drawing,” said drawing being a dujDli-cate of the label upon his tin can packages in use in 1850. He continued however, in actual use the variation of this form introduced by the insertion of the initials “ M. A.,7 the actual name appearing on all the packages being “ Dr. M. A. Simmons’ Vegetable Liver Medicine.” And it has also been most generally advertised by this name, both by him and his successors in title, but very often by the name “ Dr. M. A. Simmons’ Liver Medicine.”
Up to 1878, Dr. M. A. Simmons manufactured ’his medicine principally at Iuka, Mississippi, but in that year moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where ’he prosecuted the business until 1879, when he •sold to Simmons & Hayden, his business, including his “ trade-mark,” cuts, dies, and labels, and ‘thence the said business, “ trade-mark,” cuts, dies, etc., passed by proper transfers to the complainant, ■“ C. P. Simmons Medicine Company,” which has
"Within a few months after J.'H. Zeilin & Co.’s pur-chase from C. A. Simmons, a fierce l-ivalry sprang up between that Concern and Dr.- M. A. Simmons, and has been continued by them and their successors, down to this time. This warfare-has been xvaged in newspapers and circulars, and has been very bitter and mutually abusive. It would serve no good purpose to go into this-matter more particularly. Suffice it to say, that neither has secured much advantage over the other-in the use of hard names and injurious epithets..
The culmination of this rivalry and bitterness-was the present litigation. On the twenty-third, day of January, 1891, the complainant filed its orgi-inal bill against J. II. Zeilin & Co., I. L. Corse,. T. P. Cheek & Co., and the Mansfield Drug Co., in which bill, among other things disposed of by the Chancellor and not appealed from, and hence,
But before proceeding to a consideration of these matters, it is necessary to first dispose of a preliminary question made by the defendants. It is
The principle is general, and is one of the maxims of the Court, that he who comes into a Court of Equity asking its interposition in his behalf, must come with clean hands; and if it appear from the case made by him, or by his adversary, that he has himself been guilty of unconscientious, inequitable, or immoral conduct, in and about the same matters whereof he complains of his adversary, or if his claim to ielief grows out of, or depends upon, or is- inseparably connected with his own prior fraud, he will be repelled at the threshold of the Court. Some applications of this principle to the special class of cases we have under consideration, will be seen in the following excerpt, taken from Browne on Trade-marks: “’Where a complainant had in his advertisements made a num
So, where the question arose as to the untruthful use of the word “patent” or “patented,” it is said: “In all the foregoing eases a fraudulent intention, or a tendency to mislead, was the ground of decision; but the untrue use of the word “patent,” or an equivalent expression, does not necessarily dis-entitle to relief. Intent, or a tendency to mislead, is, after all, a question' of fact, to be determined
It is true, as insisted by complainant, that this objection is not set up in defendant’s answer in the case at bar. Nor was that necessary. In the case of Fetridge v. Wells, 13 How. Pr. R., 385 (R. Cox, 180), where this question arose in a similar case, said Duer, J.: “ The remarks that I have now made would suffice for the decision of this, motion, were the only question that of the similarity of the trade-marks, but there is another, and a grave and important question, to which the counsel for the defendants have earnestly directed my attention. That question is, whether, even upon
Applying the rule above illustrated to the facts of this case, we think that there is no doubt that
As to the statement on complainant’s packages, “ Trade-mark registered, consisting of name, picture, and autograph, November 11, 1843;” while this was not and could not be true, we do not think that it was intended thereby to mislead the public as to any material matter, or that it did so mislead the public. This statement must be understood in the light of the controversies that have been waged between complainants and defendants for many years past. As soon as Zeilin & Co.
As to the next statement upon complainant’s package animadverted upon by the defendants, that: “This is the original and only genuine Simmons’ Liver Medicine, the first that was ever advertised of that or any similiar name. Dr. M. A. Simmons advertised it extensively, peacefully, and alone for twenty-five years, before any of the others who are now making the different grades or imitations of it commenced. No other Simmons ever did so,” etc. This is substantially correct in its statement as to advertisement, and the maintenance of the reputation of the medicine^
Recurring now to a consideration of the substantial rights of the parties in litigation in this ease, we are brought to a discussion of the “ Cheek ” package and the rights predicated thereon. The antecedents of this package are as follows: T. E. Cheek, being a son-in-law of old Dr. A. Q. Simmons, and having gone with him to Texas, and there resided part of the time in his family, and part of the time a few miles distant, claimed to have received, in 1857, authority from Dr. A. Q. Simmons to make all of his medicines, and to use his picture as a protection against frauds- and imitations. After the close of the Civil War, and about the year 1870 or 1871, Cheek decided to leave Texas and remove to Alabama or Mississippi.
In May, 1878, T. E. Cheek entered into an arrangement with E. G-. Eaton and E. II. Eaton, under which the fixmi of T. E. Cheek & Co. was organized, to manufacture the liver medicine at Memphis, Tenn., with the reservation in his favor that he was to be allowed to carry on his own manufacture at Birmingham. This concern used a wrapper, upon one face of which appeared the following : “ Dr. A. Q. Simmons, the original and genuine Vegetable Liver Medicine.” Just under this was the picture of Dr. A. Q. Simmons, on each side of which was printed the word “trademark,” and under the picture a fac-simile. of the signature of Dr. A. Q. Simmons, then a notation of the entry in the office of the Librarian of Congress, and then these words: “A cure for all diseases of the liver, biliousness, dyspepsia, sick headache, loss of appetite, costiveness, etc. T. E. Cheek & Co., proprietors and manufacturers, Memphis, Tenn.” The other three faces 'contain certificates, one of which purported to be made by A. Q. Simmons, setting. forth the fact that he had given T. E. Cheek the right to use his picture. This concern continued in business until some time in the year
Respondents, Zeilin & Co., deny all charge of fraudulent purpose in putting out said Cheek package, and deny that it is a spurious or sham preparation ; admit that said medicine is not, in point of fact, manufactured in the city of Memphis, and say that it is manufactured in the laboratory of respondents in the city of Philadelphia, and that J. II. Zeilin is sole proprietor of both J. H. Zeilin & Co. and of T. F. Cheek & Co.’; deny that said medicine is sold in said packages at Memphis for the pui’pose of injuring and damaging the business of complainant and of deceiving the public; deny that the warranty of A. W. Simmons & Co. is pretended, fraudulent, or fictitious, and state that they have the right to use the firm name of A. W. Simmons & Co. or T. F. Cheek & Co. in the city of Memphis or elsewhere; set forth the facts of their purchase from T. F. Cheek and wife and the Eatons substantially as hereinbefore stated, and say: “ Ilaviug acquired the trade-marks of T. P. Cheek & Co., respondents concluded to put up their medicine in'the wrappers and labels used by T. P. Cheek & Co. at Birmingham, the only difference
The complainant is not entitled to auv relief on the ground of infringement of its trade-mark, as such, technically considered. The right to acquire property in a trade-mark, by the use upon vendible commodities of some mark, symbol, sign, or word susceptible of being used as such, is a common law right, and the property so acquired is' always protected by Courts of Equity in a proper case. The object and purpose of a trade-mark is to indicate by its 'meaning or association the origin or ownership of the article to which it is applied, so that the manufacture or product of the owner of same may be readily recognized in the market. “This may, in many cases, be done by a name, a mark, or device well known but not previously applied to the same article. But though it is not necessary that the word adopted as a trade name should be a new creation never before known or used, there are some limits to the right of selection. * * *
No one can claim protection for the exclusive use of a trade-mark or trade name which would practically give him a monopoly in the sale of any goods other than those produced or made by himself. If he could, the public would be injured rather than protected, for competition would be de
The words “Liver Medicine” are purely descriptive, and could not be appropriated .by the complainant to indicate its preparation alone, nor could the word “ Simmons,” in connection with the words “ Liver Medicine,” be appropriated by the complainants to its preparation alone, that name, under the proof, having become merely descriptive of medicine prepared under the formula of old Dr. Simmons, and used by many people in connection with medicines prepared under that formula. Marshall v. Pinkham, 52 Wis., 572.
But the complainants contend that at all events they are entitled to relief against this Cheek package, on the ground of what is styled, in some authorities, unfair competition in business. In relation to the class of subjects we now have under consideration, this may be defined, in general terms, as consisting of any device or trick whereby one manufacturer’s or dealer’s goods are palmed off in the market as and for the goods of. another, in fraud of the public and of the person whose goods are so displaced, the most usual of. such devices being the simulation of labels, the imitation of another’s style of putting up goods, and the repro
The new classification, while useful, seems to lack something of logical accuracy, inasmuch as the imitation of another’s trade-mark, if intentional, and done with the purpose of pii’ating his trade thereby, is as truly an instance of unfair competition in business as any other fraudulent device adopted for that purpose. So that the effect
The correspondences between the two classes of cases are more numerous than their differences. As in cases of trade-mark, so in cases of unfair competition in business, imposition upon the public is a necessary constituent of the plaintiff’s title to sue, but only in the fact that it is the test of the invasion of the plaintiff’s rights by the defendant. As in one, so in the other, the object and.purpose of the law is, first, to secure to him who has been instrumental in bringing into market a superior article of merchandise the fruit of his industry and skill, and, secondly, to protect the community from imposition. As in one, so in the other, the underlying principle is that one man is not to sell his own goods under pretense that they. are the goods of another; and as in one, so in the other, the violator of another’s rights pirates upon the good will of that other’s friends and customers or the. patrons of his trade and business, by sailing
A short reference to some of these cases may be useful. In Knott v. Morgan, 2 Keen, 213 (Cox’s Manual, No. 57), it appeared that the omnibuses of the London Conveyance Company were painted, and their servants clothed, in a special and distinctive manner, and that defendant began to run omnibuses similarly painted, with servants similarly clothed. On motion by plaintiff, an injunction was granted to restrain the defendants from imitating the plaintiff's line of omnibuses. Lord Langdale, in delivering his judgment in the case, expressly stated that the plaintiff had no exclusive right to the words “ Conveyance Company ” or “ London Conveyance Company,” or any other words, but held
In Williams v. Johnson, 2 Bos., 1, decided by the Supreme Court of New York in 1857, and reported as No. 150 of Cox’s Manual, it appeared that plaintiffs were manufacturers of soap which they sold under the name of “ Genuine Yankee Soap,” usiug a particular style of wrapper, form of cake, hand-bill, etc., and that the defendant put up his soap in a similar manner with slight variations. It .also, appeared that there was sufficient doubt about the exclusive right of the plaintiff to use the words “Genuine Yankee” to prevent their being protected. An. injunction was granted restraining the defendant from using the simulated wrapper, etc., complained of. "Woodruff', J., in his judgment referred particularly to the form and size of cake,, particular mode of covering and packing, a combination of three labels on each cake, and an exterior hand-bill upon the box, and the arrangement of the whole, and to the fact that the defendant-had copied the form, appearance, ■ color, style, and substantial characteristics which distinguished the' plaintiff’s goods.
In Frese v. Bachof, decided by Judge Wheeler, of the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of Hew York, in 1878 (R. Cox’s Man., 603), it appeared that plaintiffs were a firm of tea merchants who sold “Hamburg Tea” in a peculiar form of package, the tea being inclosed in long, cylindrical parcels with pink wrappers, and with crimson papers of directions and yellow ones of warning tied in, and having a white label with
In Sawyer v. Horn, decided in 1880, in the United States Circuit Court for the District of Maryland (R. Cox’s Man., 667), complainant alleged that to individualize and identify' his bluing, he adopted a peculiar and original style of package, “ consisting of a blue cylinder having a red top,” and that his goods had long been known and identified by consumers by the peculiar appearance of the package. It was also set forth that his method of packing, including the size, shape, and color of his large packages, was original with him, and had never been varied. It was shown that the defendant had knowingly made and sold bluing put up in boxes and packages imitating complainant’s article in all these particulars, except that he used his own name and made changes in the wording of his label. Defendant was restrained from putting up his goods in the manner stated, “or in any other manner so simulating the form, color, labels, and appearance given by the complainant to his goods, as to mislead purchasers into taking one for
In Avery v. Meikle, 81 Ky., 75, decided in 1883, it appeared that the defendant had not imitated plaintiff’s ■ trade-mark, yet, that by the exact simulation of plaintiff’s plow in every perceivable point, exposed to an ordinary observer and purchaser, and' the use of the same coloiúng and staining, the same relative position of the letters and figures as employed and used by the plaintiff, avoiding the literal appropriation of any part of the- trade-mark,, they had obscured their own and appellant’s trademark, hut at the same time sought to avoid detection and responsibility in doing so, and to cause their plows to he taken for and purchased as those of plaintiff; that, laying aside their own letters and numerals, which they commonly used to indicate the size, series, and quality of their plows, they took up those of plaintiff; that they quit lettering cast and figuring steel plows, and reversed that order, adopting the order used by plaintiff; that they consulted and deliberated before adopting the letters and numerals or imitating the construction of plaintiff’s plows; and that after this deliberation they so imitated the numerals and lettering of appellant’s plows that nothing hut the reading of their trade-mark, and close inspection, could distinguish the difference; that they made large quantities of plows, leaving off their own trade-mark and name and substituting therefor the names off jobbers who were well known in the market to be-
In Lelanche Battery Co. v. Western Electric Co., 23 Fed. Rep., 275, decided in 1885, it appeared that there was no trade-mark in the ease, but say the Court: “The defendants have imitated the label of the complainant to the minutest details, except the signature at the bottom. The complainant is entitled to protection against the unlawful competition in trade thus engendered by the simulation of its label, and upon this ground a decree is ordered in its favor.”
In the case of Anheiser Busch Brewing Association v. Clarke, 26 Fed. Rep., 410, decided in 1886, it appeared that “ the complainant was the first to use for bottled beer a label with a diagonal red band, with the name of the kind of beer appearing in white letters on the red band, and that he has been habitually using this label for two years.” It appeared to the Court, from an inspection of the labels, that defendant’s labels on bottles of beer would be likely to deceive purchasers desiring complainant’s beer, and an injunction was ordered. There was no question of trade-mark in the case. To same effect see Anheiser Brewing Co. v. Pisa, 24 Fed. Rep., 149.
And Browne, in his work on Trade-marks, at Section 43, under the heading of “Unfair Compe
In Croft v. Day, 7 Beav., 84, above referred to, the following apt language upon this subject also occurs, in addition to that above quoted: “ The accusation which has been made against this defendant is this: That he is selling goods under forms and symbols of such a nature and character as will induce the public to believe that he is sell
And in Lawrence Mfg. Co. v. Tennessee Mfg. Co., 138 U. S., 537, it is said: “ It seems, however, to .be contended that plaintiff was entitled at least to an injunction, upon the principle applicable to cases analogous to trade-marks — that is to say, on the ground of fraud on the public and on the plaintiff, perpetrated by defendant by intentionally and fraudulently selling its goods as those of the plaintiff. Undoubtedly, an unfair and fraudulent competition against the business of the plaintiff — conduct with the intent on the part of the defendant to avail itself of the reputation of the plaintiff to palm off its goods as plaintiff’s — would in a proper case constitute ground for relief.” Then the Court further proceeds: “ In Putnam Nail Co. v. Bennett, 43
“In this important case,” says the learned compiler of Cox’s Manual of Trade-mark Cases in a note to same, “the Supi’eme Court of the United States for the first time in its history. recognizes
The Supreme Court of the United States, in a very recent case (Brown Chemical Co. v. Meyer, 139 U. S., 540), make the following additional observations upon this subject: “The theory of a trademark proper, then, being untenable, this case resolves itself into the question whether the defendants have, by means of simulating the name of plaintiff’s preparations, putting up their own medicine in bottles or packages bearing a close resemblance to those of plaintiff, or by the use of mis: leading labels or colors endeavoring to palm off their goods as those of the plaintiff. The law upon this subject is considered in the recent case of Lawrence Mfg. Co. v. Tennessee Mfg. Co., 138 U. S., 537. The law does not visit with its reprobation a fair competition in trade. Its tendency is rather to discourage monopolies except where protected by statute, and to build up new enterprises from which the public is likely to derive a benefit. If one person can, by superior energy, by more extensive advertising, by selling a better or more attractive article, outbid another in popular favor, he has a perfect right to do so, nor is this right impaired by an ojien declaration of his intention to compete with the other in the market.”
As to the quantum and character of evidence in
In McCann v. Anthony the Supreme Court of Missouri say: “ The governing principle is that one manufacturer shall not be allowed to impose his goods .upon the public as the goods of another manufacturer, and so derive a profit from the reputation of that other. It is not necessary that the trade mark, trade name, sign, label, or other device which is employed by one merchant for that purpose shall be an exact imitation or counterfeit of the trade-mark, trade-name, sign, label, or other device employed by the other manufacturer. ,FTor
In Hostetter v. Adams, 10 Fed. Rep., 838, the criterion is stated to be: “If the general effect is to deceive an ordinary observer having no cause to use more than ordinary caution.” In speaking of the packages in controversy in that case, Judge Blatchford says: “But the general effect to the eye of an ordinary person acquainted with .plaintiff’s bottle and label, and never having seen the defendant’s label, and not expecting to see it, must be, on seeing the defendant’s, to be misled into thinking it is what he has known as the plaintiff’s.”
And, by analogy to trade-mark cases, “it would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the resemblance must be such as would deceive persons who
And, continuing the analogy of' trade-mark cases, “ all that can be done is to ascertain in every case ■as it occurs, whether there is such a resemblance as to deceive a purchaser using ordinary caution. To •constitute an infringement of a trade-mark, exact similitude is not required, but an infringement is •committed when ordinary purchasers, buying with ■ordinary caution, are likely to be misled, it being •enough to show that $he representations bear such .a resemblance to the plaintiff’s mark as to be calculated to mislead the public generally who are purchasers of the article bearing it. That means
And in the case of Read v. Richardson, appearing as No. 698 of Cox’s Manual of Trade-mark Cases, the following facts appeared: The plaintiffs and defendants were bottlers of beer for export. Plaintiff’s label consisted of a representation of the head of a bull-dog on a black ground, surrounded by a blue circular band, on which were the words, “Read Bros., London: the Bull-dog Bottling.” Defendants’ label consisted of the. representation of the head of a terrier on a black ground, surrounded by a red circular band, on which were the words, “Celebrated Terrier Bottling, E. Richardson,” one considerably lai’ger than the other, as appears from the cuts attached to the report of the case. It was made to appear that plaintiff’s beer was well' known in the colonies as “Dog’s Head Beer,” and it was alleged that defendants, by exporting their beer to the colonies, where plaintiff’s beer was in demand, enabled the substitution of defendants’ beer for plaintiffs’ beer as “ Dog’s Head Beer,” to plaintiffs’ injury. A motion • for a preliminary injunction was heard by Jessel, Master of the Rolls, who denied the motion, chiefly on the ground that plaintiffs had failed to
Concerning the Cheek package under consideration, we find the facts to be that there is now in existence no such firm as T. F. Cheek & Co., the old name of T. F. Cheek & Co. being used by the defendants, Zeilin & Co. and Zeilin & Co., incorporated, in floating said package on the market, the goods being really put up in Philadelphia by Zeilin & Co. as a part of the operations of that business, and sent to Memphis and stored in a wareroom there under charge of one of Zeilin & Co.’s agents, to be thence distributed to the trade. We also find that there is not, and never was, any such firm as A. W. Simmons & Co. represented upon said package, and that A. W. Simmons never authorized defendants to use his name, and that name, together with the representation “warranted purely vegetable by A. W. Simmons & Co., heirs of Dr. A. Q. Simmons,” is a misrepresentation, and calculated to . deceive the public. We also find the representation on the face of said package as to the improvement of the medicine is also a misrepresentation. And as to whether defendants ever acquired any substantial rights by
We also find that the trade of the complainant is confined principally to the South-west, and that in that territory its preparation is generally known and called for under the name of “Simmons’ Liver Medicine,” and that those are the prominent words on the face of its packages, the word “Simmons” being preceded by the letters “M. A.,” and the word “Vegetable” being printed in small letters between the word “Simmons” and the word “Liver,” so that at the distance of a few .feet the title appears to be, “Dr. M. A. Simmons’ Liver Medicine;” also, on the front of said package is the picture in black of Dr. M. A. Simmons on a white ground slightly shaded. On the front of the Cheek package is also a picture in black, and under it the
The complainant is entitled to an injunction restraining J. II. Zeilin & Co. and J. II. Zeilin & Co., incorporated, from putting on the market their medicine put up in packages with the Cheek labels on them, and from disposing of the packages so
Defendants insist that the Chancellor erred in-ordering an account to ascertain the damages o.f complainaut in respect of the Cheek medicine made and sold by defendants. It is customary in this, class of cases to order such an account. Gato v. Elmodelo Cigar Mfg. Co., 6 Lawyers’ Reports Annotated, 824; Atlantic Milling Co. v. Robinson, 20 Fed. Rep., 217; Atlantic Milling Co. v. Rowland et al., 27 Red. Rep., 24. But it is said that the complainants have been guilty of such laches as would deny them the right to an account. This is a good defense to an accounting where there. has been real neglect. Browne on Trade-marks, Sec. 497; McLean v. Fleming, 96 U. S., 245; Holt v. Menendez, Brice & Steuart’s American Trade-mark Cases, 986 and 989. But we do not think there
We do not consider the questions raised by defendants’ cross-bill. We think the defendants’ conduct with regard to the Cheek package is such as to disentitle them to any relief in a Court of Equity. The cross-bill will therefore be dismissed.
A decree will be entered in accordance with this.