American Brewing Co. v. Bienville Brewery

153 F. 615, 1906 U.S. App. LEXIS 5094
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern Alabama
DecidedAugust 10, 1906
DocketNo. 249
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 153 F. 615 (American Brewing Co. v. Bienville Brewery) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Brewing Co. v. Bienville Brewery, 153 F. 615, 1906 U.S. App. LEXIS 5094 (circtsdal 1906).

Opinion

TOULMIN, District Judge.

Complainant claims that it has the exclusive right to make and sell beer under the name “Bohemian,” as marked by its trade-mark, and that the public- has acquiesced in its ownership of its trade-mark and in its exclusive use of the word “Bohemian” as a trade-mark for beer. It avers that the defendant has put up and sold beer in bottles and packages bearing upon them the trade-name “Bohemian” in violation of the .complainant’s rights, and with an imitation of complainant’s trade-mark as shown by the labels on defendant’s bottles. In short, complainant claims that the defendant is guilty of an infringement of its technical trade-mark, and also of unfair competition in business by the use of the word “Bohemian,” and also by the imitation of the bottle labels of which the complainant makes use.

The first question is whether the complainant’s trade-mark is infringed by the label adopted and used by the defendant. (2) Has the defendant been guilty of unfair competition, resulting in confusion of goods, to the injury of the public, or to the invasion of the complainant’s legal rights? “A trade-mark is an arbitrary, distinctive name, symbol, or device to indicate or authenticate the origin of the product to which it is attached. An infringement of such trademark consists in the use of the genuine upon substituted goods, or of an exact copy or reproduction of the genuine, or in the use of an imitation in which the difference is colorable only, and the resemblance avails to mislead, so that the goods to which the spurious trade-mark is affixed are likely to be mistaken for the genuine product. Unfair competition is distinguishable from the infringement of a trade-mark, in this; that it does not involve the exclusive right of another to the use of the name, symbol, or device. A word may be purely generic or descriptive, and so not capable of becoming an arbitrary trade-mark, and yet there may be unfair use of it which will constitute unfair competition. It may be so used by another unfairly, producing confusion of goods, and so come under the condemnation of unfair trade, [617]*617and its use will be enjoined. * * * Whether such confusion has been, or is likely to be, produced by the acts charged is a question of fact, to be resolved either by evidence of actual sales of the one product for the other, of actual mistake of one for the other, of fraudulent palming off of the one for the other, or, on the other hand, failing such evidence, by comparison of the two brands to determine whether the one can be readily mistaken for the other, even by the inattentive and unobserving retail purchaser.” Cole Co. v. Am. Cement & Oil Co., 130 Fed. 705, 65 C. C. A. 105; Columbia Mill Co. v. Alcorn. 150 U. S. 460, 14 Sup. Ct. 151, 37 L. Ed. 1114; Coats v. Merrick Thread Co., 149 U. S. 562, 13 Sup. Ct. 966, 37 L. Ed. 847; Galena-Signal Oil Co. v. Fuller (C. C.) 142 Fed. 1002. “To acquire a right to the exclusive use of a name, device, or symbol as a trademark, it must appear that it was adopted for the purpose of identifying the origin or ownership of the article to which it is attached, or that such trade-mark points distinctly to the origin, manufacture, or ownership of the article on which it is stamped, and is designed to indicate the owner or producer of the commodity and to distinguish it from like articles manufactured by .others. If a device, mark, or symbol is adopted or placed upon an article for the purpose of identifying its class, grade, style, or quality, or for any purpose other than a reference to or indication of its ownership, it cannot be sustained as a valid trade-mark.” Columbia Mill Co. v. Alcorn, supra; Cole Co. v. Am. Cement & Oil Co., supra: Williams v. Mitchell, 106 Fed. 168; 45 C. C. A. 265; Galena-Signal Oil Co. v. Fuller, supra.

Undisputed evidence in this case shows that the term “Bohemian” is a generic designation of the product, or descriptive term, indicating the character or kind of beer spoken of; that the term “Bohemian,” used in reference to beer, indicates beer having the property of “Bohemian” hops in its manufacture; and that many breweries use and have for years used the word “Bohemian” in the bottling and sale of beer to indicate its kind or class. In fact, the registered trade-mark of complainant contains the word “Bohemian,” prefixed by the letters “A. B. C.,” as one of its “brands.” I am of opinion from the evidence now submitted that the term “Bohemian” thus used does not point distinctly to the origin, manufacture, or ownership of the article on which it is stamped and to distinguish it from like articles manufactured by others, but that it is so placed to identify the class or quality of the article, and that it is not capable of becoming a valid trademark and cannot be sustained as such. While a descriptive word cannot constitute a technical trade-mark, yet, where an article has come to be known by the descriptive word, one may not use that word to palm off his goods as the goods of another who first adopted it, and by which appellation the goods have come to be known. If he uses the descriptive word, it must be so used as not to deprive another of his rights, or to deceive the public, and the name must be accompanied with such indications that the thing manufactured is the work of the one making it as would unmistakably inform the public of the fact. Williams v. Mitchell, supra.

The great weight of evidence in this case is that the complainant’s beer is universally known, called, and sold as “A. B. C.” beer, and [618]*618that its “Bohemian” brand is known and sometimes called for and sold as “A. B. C. Bohemian,” but oftener as “A. B. C.” beer. That such is the fact in the state of Alabama and adjoining states in the United States can hardly be questioned in view of the evidence on the subject, and-that the same is to some extent true in the, island of Cuba is likewise shown. But in a case of an alleged violation of a valid trade-mark the similarity of brands must be such as to mislead ordinary -observers in order to justify a restraining injunction. A court of equity will not interfere when ordinary attention by the purchaser of the -article would enable him at once to discriminate the one from the other. Columbia Mill Co. v. Alcorn, supra; Howe Scale Co. v. Wyckoff, 198 U. S. 140, 25 Sup. Ct. 609, 49 L. Ed. 972. “It is not necessary to constitute an infringement that every word of a trade-mark should be appropriated. It is sufficient that enough be taken to deceive the public in the purchase of a protected article.” Saxlehner v. Eisner & Mendelson Co., 179 U. S. 33, 21 Sup. Ct. 7, 45 L. Ed. 60. Nor is proof of the existence of actual deception of purchasers essential. In the case of a manifest liability to deception there need be no such proof; but where it- is not manifest to the court, upon inspection of the label,, that the public would be imposed upon by the dress of the article,_ there should be proof of actual mistake by purchasers. There are no affidavits to this effect by purchasers or proposed purchasers of either beer in question. There are affidavits •on the subject by persons in Cuba, where complainant has a considerable trade with its beer.

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Bluebook (online)
153 F. 615, 1906 U.S. App. LEXIS 5094, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-brewing-co-v-bienville-brewery-circtsdal-1906.