This is an action based upon alleged trade-mark infringement and for unfair competition. Since 1869 plaintiff and its predecessors have used the name “Parcheesi” as a trade-mark on board and counter games manufactured and sold in interstate commerce. On October 8, 1918, plaintiff registered the trade-mark “Parcheesi” for games (No. 123033) and renewed same on September 6, 1938. The defendant Western Printing and Lithographing Company is the manufacturer and owns all of the capital stock of the defendant Whitman Publishing Company; the latter acts as sales agency. For convenience, both will be referred to hereinafter as the defendant.
The game “Parcheesi” was and is the principal item in plaintiff’s business. Since 1910 plaintiff has expended in excess of $140,000 in advertising the various games which it sells, the principal emphasis being on “Parcheesi”. Plaintiff sells to nearly 3,000 outlets in all parts of the country, including many wholesalers. “Parcheesi” is on sale in about 10,000 retail establishments.
For some years past the defendant, as well as other toy manufacturers, has produced and sold to the trade the same game under the name of “India”. Plaintiff does not claim the exclusive use of the game, but does contend that it is entitled to the exclusive use of the name “Parcheesi” or any variation of the name which would deceive or confuse the public.
Prior to the commencement of this action, plaintiff had been producing a popular edition of the game “Parcheesi”. The outer cover of the box was black, and in the center of the cover the following appeared in gold letters on a dark blue background:
“A Royal Game of India “Parcheesi “Popular Edition”
About April 1, 1939, the defendant brought out a game which was the same game as they had sold previously under the name of “India”. Defendant’s game had a dark blue cover and in the center thereof appeared :
“Parchesi
“A Game of India”
These letters were also in gold and, although in a somewhat different kind of type, they were about the same size as those used by plaintiff.
Plaintiff asked for a preliminary injunction. Before the hearing thereon and in its answer, defendant claimed to have *324 ceased the manufacture of the game as hereinbefore described, but asserted its right to manufacture, sell, and distribute the game under the name “Pachisi” but with the cover in a red or orange color with these words appearing in white letters:
“Whitman’s
“Pachisi
“A Game, of India”
The plaintiff filed an amended complaint asking that the defendant be restrained from using the word “Pachisi”. A preliminary injunction was granted for the reasons appearing in Selchow & Righter Co. v. Western Printing & Lithographing Co. et al., D.C.Wis.,
For many years prior to 1869 a game similar to plaintiff’s “Parcheesi” was played in India. The highest count that could be made in the Indian game was twenty-five, and the Hindustani or Hindi word for “twenty-five” sounded very similar to “Patcheesi”, “Parcheesi”, or “Pachisi”. In fact, the game in India has come to be known as “Pachisi” and is often referred to as the national game of India.
Defendant first contends the trade-mark is invalid because of the manner of its registration. Essanar Company, Inc., ap. plied for registration under the so-called “ten year clause” of the Trade-Mark Act of 1905, 15 U.S.C.A. § 81 et seq. This required a written declaration that applicant believes himself (or the corporation) “ * * * to be the owner of the trademark sought to be registered, and that no other person, firm, corporation, or association, to the best of the applicant’s knowledge and belief, has the right to use such trade-mark in the United States, either in the identical form or in such near resemblance thereto as might be calculated to deceive; that such trade-mark is used in commerce among the several States. * * * ” The application shows that the president of Essanar stated: “The trademark has been continuously used in its business and the business of its predecessors in title since 1869. * * * ” The evidence disclosed that on January 25, 1917, by a licensing agreement, the Essanar Company granted the exclusive right to make, sell, and use “Parcheesi” to Selchow and Righter Company.
John Hamilton originated plaintiff’s game under the name of “Patcheesi”, and in 1868 he sold his rights to E. B. Swift. In 1870 Swift sold his business and good will, and the entire rights to “Patcheesi” or “Parcheesi”, to Elisha G. Selchow who formed a partnership with John H. Righter under the name and style of E. G. Selchow and Company. In 1916, after the deaths of John H. Righter and Elisha G. Selchow, the Essanar Company, Inc., was organized. The heirs of both deceased were the stockholders. Therefore, the stockholders of the two companies (licens- or and licensee) were the same, although there was some slight difference in stock holdings. There was in fact a substantial identity of interests. Section 21 of the act provided “that no action or suit shall be maintained under the provisions of this act [subdivision of this chapter] * * * upon any certificate of registration fraudulently obtained.” Surely under the circumstances here present, it cannot be said that the registration was fraudulently obtained.
Defendant next contends that plaintiff has abandoned its trade-mark by operation of law. In order not to unduly prolong this opinion, it will suffice to say that this contention has been examined but cannot be sustained.
*325 Prior to the passage of the 1905 act, trade-mark registration under the federal statutes had been denied to words which consisted of a name of a party, or which were generic or descriptive of goods with which they were used, or which were merely geographical names, or which indicated the place of origin. Under Section 5 of the 1905 act, which included the so-called “ten year clause”, this disability was removed with respect to trade-marks which had been used by the applicant or its predecessors, in foreign or interstate commerce, and which had been in actual and exclusive use as a trade-mark for ten years next, preceding the passage of the act.
The 1905 act was not intended to change the common law principles of trade-marks. Thaddeus Davids Co. v. Davids,
A reference to the Davids case, supra, is made in the opinion in the Armstrong case, supra, as follows at pages 335, 336 of
Our consideration, therefore, is to determine whether the plaintiff is entitled under the common law to exclude the defendant from the use of the word “Pachisi”.
A New York District Court considered the use of the word “Parcheesi” in Selchow v. Chaffee & Selchow Mfg. Co., C.C.,
Plaintiff contends that the game which it manufactures is not the Hindi game of “Pachisi” because the rules differ in certain respects. The Hindi game in evidence showed plaintiff’s board is greatly similar. In each game the boards are cruciform, having a center square and four arms. In each instance the arms are divided into three pathways, and the number of divisions or sections in each pathway is practically the same. Each game is played by two to four persons, with playing pieces to be moved upon the board. The Hindi game uses cowries to determine the number of spaces which the pieces may be moved, while in plaintiff’s modern version, dice are used. The primary object in each game is to get the players “Home”. But such slight variations in the rules are not of importance. In our modern game of football the rules for “professional” football are in some respects different from those for college football. Yet no one would deny that both games are football. Furthermore, it is *326 somewhat inconsistent for plaintiff to argue that its game is not the Hindi game, for from the beginning of its manufacture by plaintiff and its predecessors, the game has been called “Parcheesi, The Royal Game of India” and “The Great Backgammon Game of India”.
The testimony in the case at bar establishes that the correct spelling of the Indian name is “Pachisi”. While it is true that this is the Indian word for “twenty-five”, it is also the name of the Indian game which is similar to plaintiff’s game of “Parcheesi” as well as to the defendant’s proposed game. If we follow the reasoning of the Selchow v. Chaffee & Selchow Mfg. Co. case, supra, the defendant here has the right to use the name “Pachisi”, the correct name for the game in the Hindi language, unless by so doing it would work a fraud upon the purchasing public by palming off on them something they believed to be the product of plaintiff.
In the well-known shredded wheat case (Kellogg Co. v. National Biscuit Co.,
The plaintiff here has proved that buyers for large department stores and other like establishments have for years associated the name “Parcheesi” with the plaintiff company. But that does not hold true as to the general public, for it is very evident that an ordinary customer, going into a store and asking for the game “Parcheesi”, has no information as to who might have manufactured and produced that game. Not one purchaser in a thousand would know or care whether Selchow and Righter Company was the manufacturer. The fact is that the public in general knows “Parcheesi” as a game and not as an article made by the plaintiff. The rule laid down in the case of Steem-Electric Corp. v. Herzfeld-Phillipson Co., 7 Cir.,
We are of the opinion that the plaintiff does not have the exclusive right to use the word “Pachisi”, nor to prevent the defendant from the use of such name, especially when the color and dress of the package is entirely different than that which has been used by the plaintiff and when, in addition, the name of the manu *327 facturer clearly appears thereon. As defendant discontinued the use of the name “Parchesi” prior to the time of the trial and has indicated that it has no intention of using that name in the future, the temporary injunction heretofore entered may be vacated, and judgment in this action will go for the defendant.
