John H. Woodbury, Inc. v. William A. Woodbury Corp.

23 F. Supp. 162, 1938 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2126
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 31, 1938
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 23 F. Supp. 162 (John H. Woodbury, Inc. v. William A. Woodbury Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John H. Woodbury, Inc. v. William A. Woodbury Corp., 23 F. Supp. 162, 1938 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2126 (S.D.N.Y. 1938).

Opinion

KNOX, District Judge.

John H. Woodbury, Inc., nationally advertised distributor of “Woodbury’s Facial Soap,” here seeks an injunction against the use of the name “Woodbury,” in connection with toilet goods manufactured and retailed by the defendants. The suit is predicated upon defendants’ alleged unfair competition and trade-mark infringement. Plaintiff bases its exclusive right to the surname Woodbury on three distinct series of transfers extending back to 1901.

In that year, John H. Woodbury atid the John H. Woodbury Dermatological Institute sold to the Jergens Company, a predecessor in interest of the plaintiff, all the rights in the neckless head trade-mark, which identified John II. , Woodbury’s Facial Soap, and in the name "Wood-bury" in connection with the manufacture and sale of eight specified toilet articles, including the well-known soap. For a more extended account of this transaction, see Andrew Jergens Co. v. Bonded Products Corporation, 2 Cir., 21 F.2d 419. The rights, acquired by the Jergens Company, through mesne assignments, are now vested in the plaintiff.

*164 Following this contract of 1901, John H. Woodbury left the Institute and engaged in the manufacture of soap, under his own name, and by means of a company known as the Woodbury-McGrath Company. In 1907, the Jergens Company brought suit in the New York state courts to enjoin this competition, and prevailed. Andrew Jurgens Co. v. John H. Woodbury, 56 Misc. 404, 106 N.Y.S. 571; Andrew Jergens Co. v. John H. Woodbury, 128 App.Div. 924, 112 N.Y.S. 1121, modified 197 N.Y. 66, 90 N.E. 344, reargument denied 197 N.Y. 581, 91 N.E. 1109. After this setback, and within the limits of the decision of the Court of Appeals, the John H. Woodbury Company of New York was organized by John H. Woodbury and Peyton R. McCargo, for the purpose of carrying on business in toilet goods, other than facial soap.

In 1909, John H. Woodbury died, and the residual rights to use his name were transferred to the corporation bearing his name by his duly appointed administrators. In 1925, McCargo acquired the stock of the John H. Woodbury Company, subsequently selling it by means of two separate transfers, dated October 3, 1925, and November 15, 1928, to Benjamin H. Freedman. The stock acquired under the first of these transfers, Freedman assigned to “John H. Woodbury and John H. Wood-bury, Laboratories, Inc./’ which he had lately incorporated, and controlled. These Laboratories continued and developed the business of the former John H. Woodbury Company until 1929, at which time the Jergens interests and then the plaintiff acquired its rights.

William A. Woodbury, whose name is borne by two of the defendant companies, was a cousin of John H. Woodbury. From 1899 to 1905, he worked in the Dermatological Institute, apparently in the capacity of a “general manager with more or less supervision over all the departments * * *, but in charge particularly of its advertising.” Cf. Andrew Jergens Co. v. Woodbury Inc., D.C., 273 F. 952, 963. In 1905, he started his own business and formed the Woodbury Company of New York to which the Dermatological Institute assigned all its rights -in the neckless head trade-mark not previously granted, but reserving to itself a concurrent use of the mark as long as it remained in business. Following the bankruptcy of the Institute in 1908, William A. Wood-bury began the publication of a series of lessons, books, and pamphlets on beauty culture. These activities from 1918 to 1921 were conducted by Woodbury System, Inc. At the same time, due to the demand of his readers for toilet preparations bearing his name, the Woodbury Company of New York promoted the manufacture and sale of products which he, from time to time, either by himself or through others, prepared and compounded. The business done, however, seems not to have been of extensive proportions.

About 1917, -it is claimed, this latter phase of the business became increasingly important, and three corporations were chartered to further its growth, viz., Woodbury, Inc. ;• William A. Woodbury Distributors, Inc.; and the Woodbury Dermatological Institute, Inc. William A. Woodbury owned stock in these corporations, generally with the understanding that it was given him for the use of his name. The mere fact that he did not receive cash for such use is of no moment. So far as I am able to interpret the testimony, my thought is that the greatest contribution which William A. Woodbury made to any one of the corporations, with which he was identified subsequent to his connection with John H. Woodbury and the Institute was the use of his name. The fact that he was given corporate stock, rather than cash, would indicate that the persons in control of such corporations were unwilling to give him something of recognizable tangibility until the use of his name had resulted in profit to the companies which were capitalizing it.

.In June 1919, the Andrew Jergens Company of Ohio brought suit in Delaware to enjoin Woodbury, Inc., Woodbury System, Inc., and Woodbury Distributors, Inc., from infringing trade-mark rights derived in 1901 from the Institute. The court held that Jergens’ right to the trade-marlc and name “Woodbury” in conjunction there-' with, acquired in 1901, was absolute only with respect to the eight articles specified, and that William A. Woodbury, having built up a toilet' goods business, was entitled to use his name in that business, and that this right could be conferred upon a corporation, so long as the packaging of articles analogous to the eight previously singled out was not' so similar as to “deceive and mislead the public to believe that they are identical with those named in the contract” of 1901. Although confusion *165 existed, since it was found not to “arise from any wrongful act of the defendants” the bill was dismissed. Andrew Jergens Co. v. Woodbury, Inc., D.C., 273 F. 952, affirmed without opinion, 3 Cir., 279 F. 1016.

The claim of defendants is that this decision should rule the result of the action at bar. It must be noted, however, that that determination turned upon the trademark rights under the contract of 1901, and not upon any question of secondary significance in the surname. Such, at least, was the finding of Judge Inch, in the subsequent Bonded Products Case, and I concur in it.

On May 29, 1918, and shortly before the institution of the Delaware suit, William A. Woodbury and the Woodbury Company of New York transferred to Roswell F. Easton an exclusive right and privilege to sell or dispose of the commodities and formula set forth in such license, excepting therefrom, however, commodities controlled by the Andrew Jergens Company, and which were covered by the contract of 1901. The right and privilege so conveyed was to be in force for 999 years. One of the provisions was that Easton should have the right to use the name “William A. Woodbury,” or “Woodbury,” and the neckless head trade-mark, upon all toilet articles covered by the agreement.

On June 5, 1918, Easton, through an indorsement upon the original agreement, transferred his right, title, and interest therein to William A. Woodbury Distributors, Inc., in which Woodbury had one share of stock. When Easton was served with process in the Delaware suit, he handed the papers to Woodbury, telling him to take care of them.

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

Related

Mercury Record Corp. v. Buckingham Record Co.
226 F. Supp. 427 (S.D. New York, 1963)
American Chicle Co. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc.
210 F.2d 680 (Second Circuit, 1954)
Treo Co. v. Novack
105 F. Supp. 248 (S.D. New York, 1952)
Gamlen Chemical Co. v. Gamlen
79 F. Supp. 622 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1948)
Municipal Street Sign Co. v. City Street Sign Corp.
30 F. Supp. 795 (E.D. New York, 1940)
S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. v. Johnson
28 F. Supp. 744 (W.D. New York, 1939)
American Viscose Corporation v. Crown Craft, Inc.
28 F. Supp. 884 (S.D. New York, 1939)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
23 F. Supp. 162, 1938 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-h-woodbury-inc-v-william-a-woodbury-corp-nysd-1938.