California Apparel Creators v. Wieder of California, Inc.

162 F.2d 893, 74 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 221, 174 A.L.R. 481, 1947 U.S. App. LEXIS 3837
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedJuly 30, 1947
Docket210, Docket 20513
StatusPublished
Cited by95 cases

This text of 162 F.2d 893 (California Apparel Creators v. Wieder of California, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
California Apparel Creators v. Wieder of California, Inc., 162 F.2d 893, 74 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 221, 174 A.L.R. 481, 1947 U.S. App. LEXIS 3837 (2d Cir. 1947).

Opinions

CLARK, Circuit Judge.

In this appeal we must decide whether or not a group of manufacturers and dealers in v/earixig apparel located in the State of California may prevent manufacturers and dealers in wearing apparel located in New York from using the names “California” or “Californian” in connection with their businesses. There are 76 plaintiffs, comprising an incorporated trade association and 75 of its members. The defendants are three corporations of New York City — Wieder of California, Inc., California Sportswear, Inc., and Cortley Shirt Company, Inc. Defendant Cortiey does not use any variant of the word “California” in its trade name, but it does use the term “Californian” as a brand name for a line of its sportswear and on the labels affixed to such sportswear. Purporting to act not only for themselves, but also for all California manufacturers of wearing apparel, plaintiffs joined together to bring this action for unfair competition against defendants. In it they demanded damages, an accounting for profits, and an order enjoining the defendants from using the word “California” or any variation of it in their trade names or in describing their products. Defendants in their answers counterclaimed for declaratory judgments. Defendants Wieder and Sportswear sought declarations of their rights to continue to use their trade names, and defendant Cortley sought a decía,ration of its right to use its label and brand name. Plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction, and all defendants moved for suni~ mary judgment dismissing the complaint and on their counterclaims. The District Court denied plaintiffs’ motion and granted defendants’ motions — Wieder’s in toto, and those of the other defendants in part. The District Court excepted from its order and preserved for fixture trial the claim of one of the plaintiffs, California Sportswear Co., against the defendant Sportswear because of similarity of iheir trade names, and against defendant Cortley because of similarities in their labels. D.C.5.D.N.Y., 68 F.Supp. 499. From this judgment plaintiffs have appealed.

Ill their complaint and later affidavits submitted to the District Court, appellants maintained that California-made wearing apparel was generally superior in quality and design to that made in all other sections of the country. They argued further that California apparel manufacturers had spent large sums of money advertising their wares and had succeeded in getting this idea accepted by the buying public. Tht-auswer and answering affidavits of the defendants challenged these claims and asserted the contrary. As was perhaps inevitable from the nature of the case, the statements on both sides tended in general to be opinions or conclusions of the affiants, rather than basic facts, however vigorously the respective vie.ws were advanced or asserted. Defendants claim, however, that whatever weight be given to the assertions on behalf of the plaintiffs, they show no right to relief in the premises; and the District Court was of this view, except for those cases of asserted direct injury to a specific plaintiff by the use of clcarly similar names which it reserved for trial.

It is obvious that this presents an interesting and an important issue. The manuiacture.rs of California have so considered it, as shown by the large numbers who have grouped together to enforce these claims as against businesses at so great a distance atxd seemingly not of nationwide scope. 'Fhis is shown also by the support given the plaintiffs’ plea by briefs amici curb» by the Attorney General of California and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. On the other hand, the rather far-reaching scope of the plaintiffs’ claims is emphasized by the defendants, who suggest the numerous instances of well-known products, such as Manhattan shirts, Palm [896]*896Beach suits, and Paris garters, which do not come from the localities indicated. The extent of the change in business practice which a plaintiffs’ judgment might forecast may be suggested by an examination of any city directory showing the widely prevalent usage of state and city names by business houses. Thus the New York City telephone directory has seemingly countless such cases, including 40 or more involving California.1 So far as the consumer is concerned, he is not dependent upon the private remedial actions brought by competitors; for the remedies . under the Federal Trade Commission Act, at least as amended in 1938, 15 U.S.C.A. § 45, are now extensive, and are employed by the Commission to prevent misleading of the public as to the origin of an article sold at retail. 2 Plere, therefore, we are concerned only with the remedial rights of individual businesses and whether or not such businesses have been damaged by the unfair competition of the defendants.

First we should note the character and capacity of the plaintiffs and the effect of their declaration that they sue on behalf of other California manufacturers similarly affected. Plaintiff California Apparel Creators is a non-profit organization, organized some three months before the institution' of this suit, which includes as members 17 associations of wearing apparel manufacturers and their respective members composed in the aggregate of “hundreds of firms manufacturing wearing apparel within the metropolitan area of the County of Los Angeles, California.” It asserts that it has spent and is spending many thousands of dollars in advertising to create consumer demand for California wearing apparel manufactured and styled by plaintiffs; but it shows no direct interest in itself, such as ASCAP had in the royalties of composers as appeared in Gibbs v. Buck, 307 U.S. 66, 59 S.Ct. 725, 83 L.Ed. 1111. There also appear as plaintiffs 28 individuals, 36 copartnerships, and 11 corporations, or a total of 75 named parties who assert individual wrongs. These plaintiffs claim not only to represent themselves as manufacturers of various types of men’s, women’s, and children’s wearing apparel, with their factories and places of business within the State of California, but also to represent all other California manufacturers who would be similarly affected and as to whom there is a common question of law and fact affecting their rights in the same manner as the rights of the named plaintiffs. Defendants assert that there are upwards of 4,500 such manufacturers in California; and this is not only not denied, but appears to be accepted as fact by the plaintiffs. In other words, the named plaintiffs represent less than 2 per cent of the potential number. There is no showing of the relative value of their investments; the large number of unincorporated businesses among the plaintiffs, considered in the light of American business practice generally, suggests certainly no greater proportionate investment than do the numbers.

So far as these plaintiffs assume to represent others they can do so only by [897]*897virtue of subd. (3) oí Rule 23(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. following section 723c, which has been commonly referred to as granting authority for the so-called “spurious” class suit. None of the requirements of subds. (1) and (2) are fulfilled; and the basis of representation is only, as indeed plaintiffs themselves assert, the existence of common questions of law or fact affecting the several rights.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Amin v. Hingorani
S.D. New York, 2024
Boustany v. Boston Dental Group, Inc.
42 F. Supp. 2d 100 (D. Massachusetts, 1999)
Bayles v. American Medical Response of Colorado, Inc.
950 F. Supp. 1053 (D. Colorado, 1996)
Serbin v. Ziebart International Corp.
11 F.3d 1163 (Third Circuit, 1993)
United States v. 1012 Germantown Road
963 F.2d 1496 (Eleventh Circuit, 1992)
In re Nantucket Inc.
677 F.2d 95 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1982)
Moser v. Thorp Sales Corp.
312 N.W.2d 881 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1981)
Black Hills Jewelry Manufacturing Co. v. LaBelle's
489 F. Supp. 754 (D. South Dakota, 1980)
Federal Republic of Germany v. Elicofon
536 F. Supp. 813 (E.D. New York, 1978)
Wyoming National Bank of Casper v. Security Bank & Trust Co.
572 P.2d 1120 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1977)
Armstrong Cork Co. v. World Carpets, Inc.
76 F.R.D. 613 (N.D. Georgia, 1977)
NJ Optometric Ass'n v. Hillman-Kohan Eyeglasses, Inc.
365 A.2d 956 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1976)
O'HARE v. Valley Utilities, Inc.
547 P.2d 1147 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1976)
Community National Bank v. Dawes
340 N.E.2d 877 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1976)
Colligan v. Activities Club of New York, Ltd.
442 F.2d 686 (Second Circuit, 1971)
Herald Co. v. Hopkins
325 F. Supp. 1232 (N.D. New York, 1971)
Ashley v. Eisele
445 S.W.2d 76 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
162 F.2d 893, 74 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 221, 174 A.L.R. 481, 1947 U.S. App. LEXIS 3837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/california-apparel-creators-v-wieder-of-california-inc-ca2-1947.