Hamilton Watch Co. v. Hamilton Chain Co.

43 F. Supp. 85, 52 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 430, 1942 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3156
CourtDistrict Court, D. Rhode Island
DecidedJanuary 15, 1942
DocketC. A. No. 31
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 43 F. Supp. 85 (Hamilton Watch Co. v. Hamilton Chain Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hamilton Watch Co. v. Hamilton Chain Co., 43 F. Supp. 85, 52 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 430, 1942 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3156 (D.R.I. 1942).

Opinion

HARTIGAN, District Judge.

This is a suit for alleged trade-mark infringement and for unfair competition.

The plaintiff, Hamilton Watch Company, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is a Pennsylvania corporation.

Hamilton Chain Co., Inc., Young’s Inc., and S. & S. Manufacturing Company are Rhode Island corporations. Alfred Spear and Louis Susskind are citizens of Rhode Island. All the defendants occupied the same place of business at 7 Eddy Street in Providence, and are so closely related that for practical purposes in this suit they will be referred to as the defendants.

The Hamilton Chain Co., Inc. goods include Waldemar chains, vest chains, bracelets, rings, neck chains, lockets, brooches, pendants, and earrings, and as Spear testified “everything in the line of jewelry outside of watches.” These goods are sold under the “Hamilton” name mainly to retail jewelers.

The S. & S. Manufacturing Company is a corporation controlled by Spear and his partner Susskind. The record discloses the death of Mr. Susskind on December 30, 1940. The principal function of S. & S. Manufacturing Company is to buy merchandise for Spear’s various concerns. It does not sell the trade but only to the other defendants.

Young’s Inc. has not been active for three or four years and was established to do a mail order business in jewelry but was not successful.

Service of process was not made on Young’s Inc. but it was stipulated and agreed by and between the attorneys for [86]*86the respective parties that the defendant Young’s Inc. shall be considered a properly served party to this proceeding; that its appearance be entered herein and that the answer filed by the defendants shall be considered as the answer of Young’s Inc. and all proceedings had herein shall be binding upon Young’s Inc. with the same force and effect as upon other defendants in the suit.

Alfred Spear and Louis Susskind constituted the firm of Spear & Susskind and they dominated and directed the activities of the three corporate defendants and the firm operated as wholesalers of a line of jewelry selling direct to retail jewelers. They did not manufacture. Spear & Susskind for two or three years sold their “Hamilton” line of jewelry, using the business designation “Hamilton Chain Company” before they incorporated the “Hamilton Jewelry Co., Inc.” in 1937.

The plaintiff alleges ownership of registration No. 203,657, dated September 22, 1925, for a trade-mark “Hamilton” for watches, watch movements and parts thereof and infringement of the registered trade name by the defendants’ use of the name “Hamilton” on chains, bracelets, lockets, and other articles of jewelry. The plaintiff also alleges unfair competition and claims that the defendants fraudulently and with intent to deceive and palm off their goods, adopted and used the marks “Hamilton” and “Hampden” on jewelry.

On August 29, 1940, the plaintiff filed its “Voluntary Bill of Particulars” by which it gave notice that it will not claim the relief prayed for with respect to the word “Hampden”.

The answer denies the various allegations of the complaint; denies the validity of the plaintiff’s registered trademark; denies any trade-mark rights in the plaintiff with respect to the word “Hamilton” apart from watches, and denies any unfair competition. The defendants also counterclaim for trade-mark infringement and unfair competition alleging vested rights in the marks “Hamilton” and “Hampden” as applied to jewelry and infringement and unfair competition by the plaintiff.

The Hamilton Watch Company was incorporated in 1892. The name “Hamilton” was derived from a celebrated colonial family of that name who figured prominently in the history of eastern Pennsylvania including Lancaster County. The name “Hamilton” has always been of historic note in that region and has been favored in the naming of local institutions. The Hamilton Watch Company’s factory is located on land whose title has been traced back to the colonial estates of the Hamilton family.

From 1892 to 1909 the plaintiff manufactured and sold watch movements, including the dial and hands, to the jewelry trade without the watch case. The plaintiff did not put out a complete watch until 1909 when it began to encase the movements in watch cases which it purchased from outside manufacturers.

Up to 1914 the plaintiff’s watches were the type known as pocket watches intended to be carried in the pocket usually attached to a watch chain, or in the case of a lady’s watch, to be suspended from a neck chain or chatelaine. In 1914 the plaintiff began the manufacture and sale of wrist watches which were sold with a bracelet attached or ready to be attached in a box carrying the name “Hamilton”. It was not until 1929 that the word “Hamilton” appeared on a metal bracelet as distinguished ■from a label or box. In 1927 or 1928 strap bracelets were marked with the name “Hamilton”. About 1931 the name appeared on the clasps of ribbon bracelets of ladies’ watches. In 1933 the name was put on the buckles of men’s strap bracelets as well as on the bracelets.

The testimony concerning the markings on the dials from 1892 to 1905 is conflicting. They were marked “Hamilton Watch Co.”, “Hamilton”, and in some cases with the name of the distributor such as “Tiffany & Co.”

The plaintiff’s contention that the trademark “Hamilton” has always been placed on the dials of watches from the beginning is not convincing. The plaintiff offered in evidence eight dials (Ex. 79) with the name “Hamilton” in fine script and which Mr. Atkinson, a vice-president of the plaintiff company and in charge of sales and associated With the plaintiff since 1921, testified were made about 1895.

In 1937 the plaintiff marketed watches with Waldemar chains and Waldemar chains separately. The swivel of these chains were stamped “Hamilton”, They were never catalogued or nationally advertised. Prior to 1937 plaintiff occasionally had orders for watches for presentation purposes for which it would supply watch [87]*87chains. Such chains, however, were not stamped “Hamilton”.

In 1938 the plaintiff began to put out assorted watch strap bracelets displayed on a panel at the top of which appeared the Hamilton crest with the words “Hamilton Watch” on the lower part of the crest. At the top of the panel appeared in large letters “Genuine Hamilton Watch Straps”, the word “Hamilton” conspicuously standing out. The leather straps were stamped “Hamilton” and were mounted on individual cards upon which were stamped the Hamilton crest and also the words “Genuine Hamilton Strap”. The several cards were mounted on a panel as shown in Ex. 31. The Hamilton Watch Company never manufactured watch attachments. Prior to 1938 the plaintiff did not particularly feature attachments apart from watches in their advertising.

Mr. Atkinson testified that since 1928 or 1929 the plaintiff has sold bracelets that were marked “Hamilton” but not all bracelets that the plaintiff sold were marked “Hamilton”. He also testified that the plaintiff has not marketed very many models of men’s watches with metal attachments because it had surveyed the trade on numerous occasions and had found that the consumer could probably be best served by having the retailer handle them as auxiliary attachments. He testified that the bracelet was not advertised by itself and that the watch was the essential feature as far as the Hamilton Watch Company is concerned.

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Bluebook (online)
43 F. Supp. 85, 52 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 430, 1942 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3156, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hamilton-watch-co-v-hamilton-chain-co-rid-1942.