Coca-Cola Co. v. Stevenson

276 F. 1010
District Court, S.D. Illinois·Decided January 15, 1920·No. No. 47·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

FITZHENRY, District Judge

(after stating the facts as above). [1] The very recent decision of the Supreme Court in Coca-Cola Co. v. [1013] Koke Co. of America et al., 254 U. S. 143, 41 S. Ct. 113, 65 L. Ed. — , has conclusively disposed of the defense of “unclean hands’’ interposed by the defendants in this case, upon the authority of Koke Co. of America v. Coca-Cola Co., 255 Fed. 894, 167 C. C. A. 214 (C. C. A. 9th Cir.). While the exact question in that case is not presented here, yet the same principle is involved. It is claimed that none of the chemical elements suggested by the name “Coca-Cola” were in fact to be found in plaintiff’s syrup, and therefore it was a fraud upon the public. The language of the Supreme Court in disposing of that case is especially apt here:

“TLe name [Coca-Cola'! now characterizes a beverage to be had at almost any soda fountain. It means a single thing coming from a single source, and well known to the community. It hardly would be too much to say that the drink characterizes the name as much as the name the drink. In other words, ‘Coca-Cola’ probably means to most persons the plaintiff’s familiar product to be had everywhere rather than a compound of particular substances. Although the fact did not appear in United States v. Coca-Cola Co., 241 U. S. 265, we see no reason to doubt that, as we have said, it has acquired a secondary meaning in which perhaps the product is more emphasized than the producer, but to which the producer is entitled.”

This very recent decision of the United States Supreme Court settled many of the questions involved in this case. The opinion of the. Circuit Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit which was reversed was submitted to this court for its consideration upon the issues raised here, by the personal and corporate defendants, upon the theory that the identical plaintiff in this case had been adjudicated in the Circuit Court of Appeals to be of such unclean hands that it should be denied all relief in equity. The opinion disposes of the question of ownership of the trade-mark and recognizes that it has acquired a secondary meaning in which perhaps the product is more emphasized than the producer, but to which the producer is entitled.

[2] It is well established that equity has jurisdiction to: (1) Cancel fraudulent instruments affecting titles; (2) to quiet title; (3) to remove a cloud on title; and (4) to enjoin clouding a title. If at the time of Fletcher’s adoption and use of the trade-marks which he registered in Illinois the plaintiff had title to and was as far as possible, with this kind of property, in possession of the trade-mark “Coca-Cola,” then any user or claim by another to that mark or a simulation thereof was such a wrong and trespass upon plaintiff’s trade field, as to bring the question within the perview o f equitable relief. 1 Storey’s Equity, § 700; Coel v. Glos, 232 Ill. 142, 83 N. E. 529, 15 L. R. A. (N. S.) 413; Hernstreet v. Burdick, 90 Ill. 444; Glos v. Goodrich, 175 Ill. 20, 51 N. E. 643; Langlois v. Stewart, 156 Ill. 609, 41 N. E. 177; Bradley v. Bell, 142 Ala. 382, 38 South. 759; Grove v. Jennings, 46 Kan. 366, 26 Pac. 738; Hamilton v. Batlin, 8 Minn. 403 (Gil. 359) 83 Am. Dec. 787.

. In a case of this character, where it is clear that the legal remedy in the premises, mandamus, is utterly inadequate to protect plaintiff’s rights, equity has full jurisdiction over the Secretary of State to decree the plaintiff the relief to which it is entitled and to compel the Secretary of State to carry out the court’s mandates by canceling any [1014] wrongful registrations of the defendants which constitute a cloud upon plaintiff’s title and to .permit the registration of plaintiff’s trade-mark. Greene v. G. & I. R. Co., 244 U. S. 499, 37 Sup. Ct. 673, 61 L. Ed. 1280, Ann. Cas. 1917E, 88; L. & N. R. Co. v. Bosworth (D. C.) 230 Fed. 191; Ill. Central R. Co. v. Bosworth (D. C.) 209 Fed. 465; Same v. Greene, 244 U. S. 555, 37 Sup. Ct. 697, 61 L. Ed. 1309; St. Louis & S. F. R. Co. v. Cross (C. C.) 171 Fed. 480; Harrison v. St. L. & S. F. Ry. Co., 232 U. S. 318, 34 Sup. Ct. 333, 58 L. Ed. 621, L. R. A. 1915F, 1187; Phil. Co. v. Stimson, 223 U. S. 605, 32 Sup. Ct. 340, 56 L. Ed. 570; Lane v. Watts, 234 U. S. 525, 34 Sup. Ct. 965, 58 L. Ed. 1440.

[3] In the trade-marks registered by defendant Fletcher and attached to his answer, Exhibit A contains the words “JOHN D. FRET-CHER’S COCA and COGA Carbonating Syrup Chicago, Illinois.” B contains the words “JOHN D. FGETCHER’S CARBONATING SYRUP A Genuine. Coca and Cola Flavor.” ,C contains the words “TRIPURE PUREST DRINK IN THE WORGD A Genuine Coca and Cola Flavor. 7 El. Oz.” D contains the words “TRICO1 PUREST DRINK IN THE WORGD Genuine Coca and Cola Flavor 6% FI. Oz.” In Exhibit A the words “Coca” and “Cola” are in type about twice the size of the largest type in the label. The letters are outline type, printed in two colors, blue and red. In Exhibits B and C the words “A Genuine Coca and Cola Flavor” form four horizontal lines, the words “Coca and Cola” being the longest line in the center of the trade-mark, while the center of Exhibit D is arranged almost exactly the same as C, with the exception of the word “A,” so that in all four of the registrations the catchy display line which would naturally be the first to attract the eye is “Coca and Cola.” In Exhibit A the word “and” in the display line “Coca and Cola” is printed in type probably one-fourth as large as the type used in “Coca” and “Cola,” so that the word “and” might readily be mistaken for the dash in plaintiff’s trade-mark “Coca-Cola.” All of the labels now claimed by defendant Fletcher as his trade-marks, and which were registered by him, display a manifest purpose on the part of the designer to attract the eye of and interest the public in the two words “Coca” and “Cola.”

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Coca-Cola Co. v. Stevenson, 276 F. 1010 (S.D. Ill. 1920).

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