Borg-Warner Corporation v. York-Shipley, Inc.

293 F.2d 88
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 13, 1961
Docket13211_1
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 293 F.2d 88 (Borg-Warner Corporation v. York-Shipley, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Borg-Warner Corporation v. York-Shipley, Inc., 293 F.2d 88 (7th Cir. 1961).

Opinion

DUFFY, Circuit Judge.

The complaint herein contains counts for unfair competition, trademark infringement and trademark cancellation involving the word YORK used both as a trademark and a trade name. Plaintiff claims prior use of the name and trademark YORK for ice-making machinery, refrigeration apparatus, air-conditioning equipment and furnace and heating products. It alleges and offered proof that prior to 1923, the word YORK had acquired a secondary meaning identifying a wide range of products as those of plaintiff.

Defendants denied the allegations of the complaint, urged affimative defenses such as laches, unclean hands and narrow rights in YORK, and in addition, counterclaimed for trademark infringement and unfair competition. Defendant claims it commenced its use of the name YORK and trademark YORK for automatic oil burners for furnaces in 1922. This product often was referred to at the trial as oil conversion burners.

After a nine-day trial, the District Court dismissed the complaint. It entered judgment for the defendant on the counterclaim with damages of $2,280,000 plus an accounting of profits, and ordered an injunction against plaintiff using the word YORK in any way in connection with the selling of any furnace or heat-generating product.

*90 York Manufacturing Company, a Pennsylvania partnership, was formed in 1874. The business was incorporated in 1895 as the York Manufacturing Company. The manufacturing facilities were located at York, Pennsylvania. In 1927, it merged with some of its distributors to form York Ice Machinery Company. In the late 1920s or early 1930s, the plaintiff’s predecessor commenced the manufacturing of air-conditioning equipment. Commencing in 1938, it purchased and resold furnaces under the brand name YORKAIRE and YORK, but abandoned this effort about 1941. The name of the company was changed in 1942 to York Corporation. In 1954, plaintiff’s predecessor again undertook the sale of furnaces purchased from a furnace manufacturer. At least, some of these were marketed under the name YORK.

In 1956, plaintiff, Borg-Warner, acquired the business of York Corporation, and thereafter operated it as its “York Division.” Prior to 1956, Borg-Warner had manufactured and sold furnace and heating products under the name “Ingersoll” and used the brands “Ingersoll” and “Airline.”

The defendant, York-Shipley, Inc., is also located at York, Pennsylvania, as were its predecessors. A partnership known as York Oil Burner Company was organized in 1922, and was incorporated under the same name in 1928. Defendant, organized in 1926 as Thomas Shipley, Inc., acquired the stock of York Oil Burner Company in 1938. The York Oil Burner Company continued to operate as a subsidiary of defendant until 1943 when the name of defendant was changed to York-Shipley, Inc. It continued the business of the oil burner company under its new name.

Commencing in late 1922, defendant and its predecessors have manufactured, sold and serviced heating products. First, it was oil burners; since 1927, boiler-room units; and since 1933, warm-air furnaces. These have been for residential and commercial heating. In the early years of its operation, defendant’s sales of such products were largely in Pennsylvania and nearby states. Later, its sales territory extended throughout various parts of the United States.

In 1943, plaintiff 1 registered the word YORK as a trademark. It registered this mark in various forms for refrigerating machinery and apparatus, and air-conditioning machinery and apparatus. None of its registrations was for furnace and heat-generating products.

In 1950, defendant registered as its trademark a design which included

surrounded by a border. In 1955, defendant registered a second similar design in which “GAS” was substituted for “Y/H.”

Plaintiff and its predecessors, and defendant and its predecessors each have been doing business with headquarters in York, Pennsylvania, for more than 35 years prior to the commencement of this action. For many years, one of defendant’s predecessors was located across the street from the main entrance to the general offices of plaintiff’s predecessor. The parties and their predecessors had many dealings and transactions with each other.

In 1958, plaintiff completed the amalgamation of its Ingersoll furnace business into its York Division, and commenced the manufacture and sale of a line of York furnaces and heating products. In the same year, plaintiff announced to the trade and public in large advertisements, “York invades the heating market,” and commenced a large scale intensive advertising campaign. Some of these advertisements apparently directed to plaintiff’s distributors or dealers, stat *91 ed: “Now take charge of the complete market for both heating and air-conditioning with York.” Until shortly before it commenced this action, neither the plaintiff nor its predecessors had ever objected to defendant’s use of YORK for its furnace and heating products business.

Plaintiff strongly urges that the record contains no proof or finding of fact that defendant had acquired a secondary meaning in the name YORK before plaintiff applied that name to its furnace and heating products. Plaintiff refers to Conclusion of Law No. 3 which states defendant’s long priority of use of the name and trademark YORK for furnace and heating products entitles defendant to the exclusive use of the name and trademark for furnace and heating products. Plaintiff argues that prior use is not sufficient and secondary meaning is not mentioned. We agree that where a geographical or descriptive word is at issue, prior use alone is not sufficient.

Finding of Fact No. 27 states:

“As a result of the sales and advertising of YORK furnace and heating products and services by defendant and its predecessors since 1922, defendant’s name and trademark YORK had been and is known, by the trade and public, as the means of identifying the furnace and heating products and services of defendant, and said name and trademark YORK has acquired a distinctiveness and secondary meaning signifying defendant and its furnace and heating products and services, and defendant and its predecessors have developed, and defendant now has, a valuable business and good will which is represented and symbolized by the name and trademark YORK.”

Finding of Fact No. 38 is as follows:

“Plaintiff’s advertising and use of YORK for furnace and heating products dilutes the distinctive quality of defendant’s name and trademark YORK, pre-empts and irreparably damages defendant’s good will therein, and irreparably damages the secondary meaning thereof indicating defendant, its services and products.”

Although Finding No. 38 is directed principally to the Illinois statute, we think this Finding, together with Finding No. 27 is a sufficient finding as to secondary meaning. We do not think it fatal to defendant’s cause on its counterclaim that the words “secondary meaning” were not repeated in Conclusion of Law No. 3.

The name YORK is a geographical term. Generally speaking, trademarks in a geographical name are narrow in scope. Elgin National Watch Co. v.

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Bluebook (online)
293 F.2d 88, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/borg-warner-corporation-v-york-shipley-inc-ca7-1961.