Electric Vacuum Cleaner Co. v. Green

41 F. Supp. 562, 51 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 123, 1941 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2724
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedSeptember 12, 1941
DocketCivil Action No. 20161
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 41 F. Supp. 562 (Electric Vacuum Cleaner Co. v. Green) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Electric Vacuum Cleaner Co. v. Green, 41 F. Supp. 562, 51 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 123, 1941 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2724 (N.D. Ohio 1941).

Opinion

WILKIN, District Judge.

This is an action for patent and trademark infringement. The plaintiff, who is a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners, alleges that the defendant has re-assembled parts of the plaintiff’s cleaner and reconstructed and sold vacuum cleaners and parts in violation of the plaintiff’s patents and trademarks. There is not much dispute about the facts. The questions raised are mainly issues of law.

The court finds that the defendant has no right to reconstruct vacuum cleaners and sell them equipped with dust bags bearing the plaintiff’s registered trade-marks “Premier” or “Premier Duplex” or with name or cover plates bearing such trademarks. Nor has the defendant the right to sell dust bags and name plates bearing plaintiff’s registered trade-marks to others engaged in reconstructing vacuum cleaners. General Elec. Co. v. Re-New Lamp Co. et al., C.C., 128 F. 154; Prest-O-Lite Co. v. Avery Lighting Co., C.C., 161 F. 648; Ingersoll et al. v. Doyle et al., D.C., 247 F. 620; Coty v. Prestonettes, Inc., 2 Cir., 285 F. 501; Champion Spark Plug Co. v. Emener, D.C., 16 F.Supp. 816; Champion Spark Plug Co. v. Reich, D.C., 24 F.Supp. 945; De Kuyper v. Witteman, C.C., 23 F. 871; Hennessy v. Herrmann et al., C.C., 89 F. 669.

The right of the owner of a patented machine to repair it and the right to sell it are recognized in the law. Automotive Parts Co. v. Wisconsin Axle Co., 6 Cir., 81 F.2d 125. But they are limited rights and do not permit the rebuilding or reconstructing of patented machines or the replacement of patented parts without permission from the patentee, nor the rebuilding or reconstructing of unpatented machines or the replacing of unpatented parts and the sale of the same in disregard of the original maker’s trade-mark rights. If the right to repair and the right to sell were extended to cover reconstructed machines rebuilt or repaired with parts bearing the original maker’s trade-mark, it would not only violate the rights of the trade-mark owner but would tend to defraud the public.

The defendant offered convincing testimony that some of the swivel casters and rotary floor brushes sold by defendant had been acquired from authorized dealers or agents of the plaintiff; but such casters and brushes were only a small part of the total number sold by the defendant. The defendant had an implied license to resell such parts as he acquired from authorized agents. In the absence of proof of an express or implied license, the defendant’s sale of the plaintiff’s patented products'or products covered by trade-mark must be held to have been in violation of plaintiff’s rights. As to the greater part of the casters and brushes sold by the defendant during the period from January 8, 1934, to the commencement of this action, he has failed to prove from what source he obtained them.

The defendant offered evidence that he had acquired a quantity of brushes which had been discarded by the plaintiff as scrap. The court finds that the defendant had no right to recondition such scrapped parts and use them in cleaners which he sold as “reclaimed”. Tindel-Morris Co. v. Chester Forging & Engineering Co., C.C., 163 F. 304; Cotton Tie Co. v. Simmons, 106 U.S. 89, 1 S.Ct. 52, 27 L.Ed. 79; Wortendyke v. White, Fed.Cas., No. 18,050, 2 Ban.&A. 25. [564]*564The evidence supported generally the allegations of the complaint, and the court finds that plaintiff is entitled to the relief prayed for. The plaintiff is entitled to an order enjoining the defendant from further violation of its patent and trade-mark rights and to an order for an accounting as to all the rear swivel casters and rotary floor brushes covered respectively by plaintiff’s patents Nos. 1,510,300 and 1,755,054 which defendant has sold, except such parts as the record discloses or as the defendant may hereafter show to have been obtained from sources authorized by the plaintiff.

The following are the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law:

Findings of Fact.

1. Plaintiff, Electric Vacuum Cleaner Co., Inc., is a corporation duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New York, having its principal office and regular and established place of business at Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

2. The defendant, Samuel Green, d. b. a. Green Vacuum Cleaner Company, not incorporated, is a citizen of Ohio, residing at Cleveland in said State, and has his principal office and regular and established place of business at Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in the Eastern Division of the Northern District of Ohio.

3. Plaintiff company was formed in about 1919 to take over the former Frantz Premier Company, which was formed around 1909, and the name Premier has been a trade mark of plaintiff and of its predecessor company since 1909, said trade name being generally applied to products which the plaintiff sells directly to the trade, as shown by the cleaner bag in evidence (Plaintiff’s Exhibit 7) and by the name plate (Plaintiff’s Exhibit 8) as well as in advertising and in catalogs.

4. Plaintiff is a manufacturer of portable vacuum cleaners and parts thereof, and is the largest such manufacturer in this country, and its sales thereof extend all over the United States under the registered trade marks Premier and Premier Duplex.

5. For a number of years preceding the filing of this action, it has been the policy of plaintiff not to sell parts of the vacuum cleaners to wholesalers who issue catalogs offering Premier parts for resale to other dealers unless that dealer confines his business on Premier parts to genuine parts purchased from plaintiff; and, in particular, not to sell bags, nameplates or motor plates to any dealer engaged in rebuilding trade-in or junk cleaners.

6. At and prior to the commencement of this suit plaintiff was the owner of United States Letters Patent No. 1,510,300, granted to it as assignee of Otto Brintzenhofe under date of September 30, 1924, for improvements in Swivel Caster.

7. At and prior to the commencement of this suit plaintiff was the owner of United States Letters Patent No. 1,754,054 granted to it as assignee of James M. Darst, for improvements in Vacuum Cleaner Brush Bearings.

8. At and prior to the commencement of this suit plaintiff was the owner of the trade mark Premier as a trade mark for vacuum cleaners, together with the good will of the business in which such trade mark has been used by plaintiff and its predecessor, and plaintiff was the owner of Certificate of Registration No. 85766 granted to said predecessor under date of March 12, 1912, said registration having been duly renewed for a further term which does not expire until March 12, 1952.

9. At and prior to the commencement of this suit plaintiff was the owner of the trade mark Premier Duplex as a trade mark for vacuum cleaners and parts thereof, together with the good will of the business in which such trade mark has been used by plaintiff, and plaintiff was the owner of Certificate of Registration No. 162,244 granted to it under date of December 12, 1922, the term of which does not expire until December 12, 1942.

10.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
41 F. Supp. 562, 51 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 123, 1941 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2724, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/electric-vacuum-cleaner-co-v-green-ohnd-1941.