Curtis v. Bryan

2 Daly 312, 36 How. Pr. 33
CourtNew York Court of Common Pleas
DecidedJanuary 15, 1868
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2 Daly 312 (Curtis v. Bryan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York 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
Curtis v. Bryan, 2 Daly 312, 36 How. Pr. 33 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1868).

Opinion

By the Court.—Van Vorst, J.

Previous to the year 1844, Mrs. Charlotte N. "Winslow prepared a composition for children teething, which she used with success. In 1844, she gave the recipe to her son-in-law, Jeremiah Curtis, one of the plaintiffs in .this action, who commenced its manufacture and sale, under the name of Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup,” and with the approval of Mrs. Winslow, made that his trade-mark. Afterward Jeremiah Curtis associated with himself in business Benjamin A. Perkins. Curtis and Perkins, from and after the year 1845, prepared, manufactured and sold the preparation under the same name and trade-mark. Before the year 1852, they used a wrapper and label generally resembling that now in use. In 1852, they invented a wrapper, which has been continued from that time to the present.

In the year 1855, Perkins retired from the copartnership, and George Newman Curtis, and Jeremiah W. Curtis, with the plaintiff Jeremiah Curtis, became the proprietors of said article, title, and name, and are the present proprietors of the recipe for the medicine, and the trade-mark.

The preparation is put up in glass bottles, about five inches in length, and one inch in diameter, with the words Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup ” stamped upon them. Each bottle has on it a label in the English, French, German, «and Spanish languages, and is inclosed in a wrapper of yellow paper, with the Government proprietary revenue stamp of the plaintiffs thereon. Each label has on it two vignettes, and the words “ Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, for children teething.” The plaintiffs claim, that the preparation is made of pure materials, and with great care; that they have made efforts, during many years, to introduce the preparation into general use in the United States, and foreign countries ; that they have expended in such efforts, and in advertising, eight hundred thousand dollars, and have caused it to be generally known by its distinctive name. Plaintiffs claim that the Sales of the article, under its peculiar name and title, have at all times steadily and rapidly increased, so that they sell over one million and a half bottles annually, and their annual receipts exceed $300,000. The preparation is well and favorably known in New York, [314]*314and is purchased at wholesale hy druggists, chemists, and apothecaries. It appears, hy the evidence, that the medicine has given satisfaction, and has the reputation of being a safe and valuable preparation.

The defendant in this action, since the first day of January, 1867, has commenced the manufacture of a preparation, in color and appearance resembling that of the plaintiffs, under the name of “ Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, for children teething.” Defendant’s mixture is put up in glass bottles of nearly the same length, and of the same diameter, as those used by plaintiffs, with the words Mrs. H. M. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup ” stamped upon them. The label on the defendant’s bottle is of the same size, color, and style of printing as that of the plaintiffs. The printing on the label is in the English, French, German, and Spanish languages, and is in the same words as those on the plaintiffs’ label. The bottle of the defendant is inclosed in a wrapper of paper, with a stamp thereon, having the general appearance and style of the revenue proprietary Government stamp of the plaintiffs, and has figures resembling plaintiffs’ engraved thereon. The defendant having thus prepared his article, has introduced same for sale, and is selling same, under the name of “ Winslow’s Soothing Syrup.”

Except there be some legal justification for his acts, the defendant, under the well-settled principles' as clearly and repeatedly announced by courts of equity, is infringing upon and invading the plaintiffs’ rights. A trade-mark is property, and the proprietor thereof should be fully protected in its enjoyment, and in all the benefits and advantages which it confers. It is well settled by the determination of the courts of this country, and the English and French law is the same, that a person may, by priority of appropriation of names, letters, signs, figures, or symbols of .any kind, to distinguish his manufacture, acquire a property therein as a trade-mark, for the invasion of which an action will lie, and in the exclusive use of which he may have protection by injunction (Amoskeag Manufacturing Co. v. Spear, 2 Sandf. 599).

The defendant could have had but one object in so closely imitating the article prepared by plaintiff. His use of a bottle [315]*315similar in size and form; his use of the labels in the different languages, and in the same words; the adoption of a stamp similar to that used by plaintiffs, and his selling his article under the name of “ Winslow’s,” or “ Mrs. JET. M. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup,” all clearly demonstrate that he designed to take advantage of the reputation which the plaintiffs had, by large expenditures of money, and great and persistent efforts, established for their article. It is quite evident that the defendant would seek to avail himself of, and turn to his own account, the labor and expense which the plaintiffs have borne for years, to bring their article into favorable notice and general use. By the arts he'used, defendant would have the public believe that the article he was selling was the plaintiffs’, and he would dispose of it as such.

Courts of equity do not regard with favor such practices, and will restrain a party from indulging in them. The direct consequences of the defendant’s acts is to deceive, and a party is presumed to intend the consequences of his acts.

The imitation of the plaintiffs’ trade-mark is so close, and the manner in which defendant’s article is put up so nearly resembles the plaintiffs’ article and mark, that the law must presume it to have been resorted to for the purpose of inducing the public to believe the article is that of the plaintiffs, whose trade-mark is imitated, and for the purpose of supplanting him in the good-will of his business (Taylor v. Carpenter, 2 Sand. Ch. R. 611, 612; Millington v. Fox, 3 Myl. & C. 338).

In Amoskeag Manufacturing Co. v. Spear (supra), the court says: “An injunction ought to be granted whenever the design of a person who imitates a trade-mark, his design either apparent or proved, is to impose his own goods upon the public as those of the owners of the mark; and the imitation is such that the success of the design is a probable, or even a possible, consequence.”

But the case is relieved of all doubt as to the intention of the defendant in so preparing, putting up, marking, and introducing his article. The proof shows clearly that defendant stated at the time that the stamp he had placed on his bottle was intended to imitate the Grovernment stamp upon the plaint[316]*316iffs’ article, and that he intended to procure a Government stamp like the one used by the plaintiffs, .and that he also expected toisell his article on the demand made, and the advertising done, for Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup,” by Jeremiah Curtis & Sons. To justify the use by him of the name of Winslow,” in connection with the article introduced by him, the defendant claims that a variety of soothing syrups prior to 1843, called “ Winslow’s Soothing Syrup ” for children, was manufactured, prepared, and sold by John M. Winslow, a druggist of the city of Rochester, and that printed circulars bearing the name of such medicine were extensively circulated through the Northern States.

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Bluebook (online)
2 Daly 312, 36 How. Pr. 33, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/curtis-v-bryan-nyctcompl-1868.