Adams Baking Co. v. Interstate Bakeries Corp.

307 N.E.2d 273, 37 Ohio Misc. 79, 66 Ohio Op. 2d 175, 1972 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 140
CourtScioto County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedMarch 31, 1972
DocketNo. 52467
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 307 N.E.2d 273 (Adams Baking Co. v. Interstate Bakeries Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Scioto County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adams Baking Co. v. Interstate Bakeries Corp., 307 N.E.2d 273, 37 Ohio Misc. 79, 66 Ohio Op. 2d 175, 1972 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 140 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1972).

Opinion

Marshall, J.

The source of this action is a written agreement bearing the date of July 22, 1921, between Schulze Baking Company, a Chicago, Illinois corporation, party of the first part, and A. W. Adams Wholesale Bakery, party of the second part, which was a sole proprietorship.

The agreement, in its pertinent parts, provides that, in consideration of the sum of $1,200.00, the party of the first part grants to the party of the second part:

“the exclusive license for ninety-nine (99) years to manufacture within the corporate limits of Portsmouth, Ohio and to use as a trade name or trade mark for advertising and identification purposes the registered trade mark, number ........ for Butter-Nut Bread, granted to said Schulze Baking Company on ..........by the U. S. Patent Office, and to attach to said bread, labels similar to the label affixed hereto as a sample. This license is granted for the above named consideration and only upon the following express conditions, all of which are hereby agreed to and accepted by the parties hereto:
“First: The said Schulze Baking Company will disclose to party of second part a certain formula for said ButterNut Bread, and agrees not to disclose same to any other baker or bakers in this City of Portsmouth, Ohio,
[80]*80“Second: The said A. W. Adams will not disclose the Butter-Nut Bread formula, or any part thereof, to any person whomsoever except to those journeymen bakers within his own employ to whom it is necessary to disclose it for the purpose of manufacturing under this license, nor assign or transfer in any manner any of the rights herein granted by the Schulze Baking Company save only to a successor to whom the licensee shall have sold or assigned his entire business and in such case the person to whom the business is transferred shall notify the Schulze Baking Company of said transfer in writing within six (6) months, otherwise this license to be void and of no effect.
‘ ‘ Third: In ease of the failure of the said A. W. Adams Wholesale Bakery to make any of the payments herein-above required to be made or to comply with any of the conditions of this instrument, the said Schulze Baking Company shall have the right immediately to revoke and terminate this license without prior notice and without returning any of the consideration herein provided to be paid by the licensee, and upon receipt of notice from the Schulze Baking Company that it has, for any of the above specified causes, terminated the license hereby granted, the party of the seend part hereby agrees that it will immediately cease to manufacture or market, under the name Butter-Nut, either bread or other bakery products.”

Plaintiff, Adams Baking Co., Inc., is a corporation organized under the laws of Ohio on March 18,1926. It is not disputed that the A. W. Adams referred to in the agreement, for a time after the execution of the same, engaged in the bakery business with George H. Adams and W. A. Adams under the name of Adams Brothers Baking Co., as a partnership, until the plaintiff corporation was organized; and that the plaintiff has continuously, purportedly by authority of said agreement, engaged in the production, sale and distribution of Butter-Nut bread both in the city of Portsmouth and in other portions of Ohio and areas in the state of Kentucky. Defendant, Interstate Bakeries Corporation, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Illinois, having its principal place of business ip Chicago, has [81]*81changed its name to Interstate Brands Corporation, and is the successor of the Schulze Baking Company. Defendant admits that it and its predecessors have been distributing and selling bread and bakery products using the name and label “Butternut” or “Butter-Nut” within the city of Portsmouth for many years, and generally in Ohio and Kentucky continuously prior and subsequent to the granting of the license.

Plaintiff in its amended petition contends that it has the exclusive right to the use of said trade name within the city of Portsmouth and demands that the defendant be enjoined from infringing thereon and seeks an accounting. Defendant contends that since it was not given a notice in writing of the assignment of the license rights to the successors of the Adams Wholesale Bakery, plaintiff has lost all rights under the agreement, and that because it has engaged in the activities complained of for many years, the plaintiff is barred by laches and estopped from the relief requested. In its counterclaim, defendant says that plaintiff has not been using the “Butter-Nut” formula in its bread production, which constitutes a breach of the agreement giving defendant the right to terminate; that by reason thereof, it has the xclusive right to the use of the trade mark “Butter-Nut” or “Butternut”; and demands that the plaintiff be enjoined from infringing thereon, and seeks an order terminating the agreement, an accounting, damages in the amount of $100,000.00, costs and attorney fees. Plaintiff in its reply states that it has been engaged in the activities complained of for approximately 50 years, and alleges that if the defendant ever had a cause of action, which plaintiff denies, its claims are barred by laches and the statute of limitations.

Thereafter, plaintiff moved for a summary judgment and a declaration of the rights and obligations created by the agreement. Defendant opposes this on the ground “that substantial issues exist as to the material facts of this cause.”

In ruling upon this motion the court is governed by the provision of Civ. R. 56, and must consider the pleadings, [82]*82answers to interrogatories, written admissions and memoranda prepared by counsel.

The court finds that the plaintiff succeeded to the licensed activities in 1926 and has engaged in those activities continuously to the present time. The defendant, having acquiesced in those activities and having made no protest as to the lack of a formal notice of the assignment for some 44 years, is now estopped to assert such a defense. Defendant’s contention that it is entitled to terminate the agreement by reason of the failure of the plaintiff to use the prescribed formula is not well taken. In addition to the elements of laches and estoppel as previously noted, the agreement contains no requirement that the formula referred to therein must be used in the manufacture of the bread.

“ ‘Trademark’ means any word, name, symbol, or device or any combination thereof adopted and used by a person to identify goods made or sold by him, and to distinguish them from goods made or sold by others.” E. C. 1329.54(A). Trademark rights are based on the common law. Registration statutes, both federal and state, simply implement common law rights and provide additional remedies. 52 Ohio Jurisprudence 2d 365. “The adoption and use of a trademark involves two rights: (1) the exclusive right to use a particular mark, and to be protected in that use from competition with others who attempt to use it; and (2) the right to protection from unfair competition and to protect the public from imposition and deception.” Id., at page 347. The right to a trademark is derived from its use in connection with particular goods, which right is not enlarged upon by its mere registration. It does not relate to or affect processes of manufacture or chemical combinations. Trade-Mark Cases (1879), 100 U. S. 82.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
307 N.E.2d 273, 37 Ohio Misc. 79, 66 Ohio Op. 2d 175, 1972 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adams-baking-co-v-interstate-bakeries-corp-ohctcomplscioto-1972.