Dietene Co. v. Dietrim Co.

121 F. Supp. 785, 102 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 7, 1954 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3481
District Court, D. Nebraska·Decided June 21, 1954·No. Civ. No. 87-52·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

DONOHOE, Chief Judge.

This action was instituted by the Dietene Company, a Minnesota Corporation, to enjoin the defendant, Vitamin Industries, a Nebraska corporation, from using the mark “Dietrim” as applied to a reducing supplement because it is confusingly similar to “Dietene”, a mark which plaintiff registered under the Trade-Mark Act and also used to identify a reducing supplement. Since plaintiff charges infringement of a trade-mark registered in the United States Patent Office, this court has jurisdiction. 15 U.S.C.A. § 1121. The requisite diversity of citizenship and amount in controversy also present an appropriate basis for this court to assume jurisdiction of the cause. 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332.

The case was tried to the court without a jury, and after careful consideration of the material and competent evidence produced at the trial the court makes the following special

Findings of Fact:

Plaintiff owns United States TradeMark Registration No. 329,995 for “Dietene” as applied to a reducing supplement. This registration was originally obtained by plaintiff’s predecessor under the Trade-Mark Act of 1905, and was subsequently republished on the Principal Register of the Trade-Mark Act of 1946, Lanham Act. 15 U.S.C.A. § 1051 et seq. Plaintiff distributes its products nationally.

Defendant uses the name “Dietrim” in connection with a reducing supplement which it distributes in areas served by the plaintiff corporation. Defendant’s mark is not registered and it was not in use prior to the time plaintiff began using its mark.

Discussion

The Lanham Trade-Mark Act provides that “(n)o trade-mark by which the goods of the applicant may be distinguished from the goods of others shall be refused registration on the principal register on account of its nature unless it — * * *. (e) Consists of a mark which, (1) when applied to the goods of the applicant is merely descriptive * * * of them, * * 15 U.S.C.A. § 1052. This statute, which merely reflects a long standing equitable doctrine,1 precludes the exclusive use of descriptive or generic terms as trade-marks. In Standard Paint Co. v. Trinidad Asphalt Mfg. Co., 220 U.S. 446, 31 S.Ct. 456, 457, 55 L.Ed. 536, Justice McKenna points out:

“The definition of a trademark has been given by this court and the extent of its use described. It was said by the chief justice, speaking for the court, that ‘the term has been in use from a very early date; and, generally speaking, means a distinctive mark of authenticity, through which the products of particular manufacturers or the vendable commodities of particular merchants may be distinguished from those of others. It may consist in any symbol or in any form of words; but as its office is to point out distinctively the origin or ownership of the articles to which it is affixed, it follows that no sign or form of words can be appropriated as a valid trademark which, from the nature of the fact conveyed by its primary mean[787] ing, others may employ with equal truth, and with equal right, for the same purpose.’ Elgin National Watch Co. v. Illinois Watch Co., 179 U.S. 665, 673, 21 S.Ct. 270, 45 L.Ed. 365, 378. There is no doubt, therefore, of the rule. There is something more of precision given to it in Canal Co. v. Clark, 13 Wall. 311, 323, 20 L.Ed. 581, 583, where it is said that the essence of the wrong for the violation of a trademark ‘consists in the sale of the goods of one manufacturer or vendor as those of another; and that it is only when this false representation is directly or indirectly made that the party who appeals to a court of equity can have relief.’ A trademark, it was hence concluded, ‘must therefore be distinctive in its original signification, pointing to the origin of the article, or it must have become such by association.’ But two qualifying rules were expressed, as follows: ‘No one can claim protection for the exclusive use of a trademark or tradename which would practically give him a monopoly in the sale of any goods other than those produced or made by himself. If he could, the public would be injured rather than protected, for competition would be destroyed. Nor can a generic name, or a name merely descriptive of an article of trade, of its qualities, ingredients, or characteristics, be employed as a trademark and the exclusive use of it be entitled to legal protection’.”

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Dietene Co. v. Dietrim Co., 121 F. Supp. 785, 102 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 7, 1954 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3481 (D. Neb. 1954).

121 F. Supp. 785 (Dietene Co. v. Dietrim Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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