Motor Master Products Corp. v. Motor Masters Warehouse, Inc.

463 F. Supp. 232, 202 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 213, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16027
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided August 15, 1978·No. Civ. A. 76-3962·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BECHTLE, District Judge.

Plaintiff Motor Master Products Corporation brought this action against defendant *233 Motor Masters Warehouse, Inc., alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition, in violation of the Lanham TradeMark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq. The case was tried before this Court on March 27-28, 1978. After careful consideration of the testimony and exhibits presented at trial, we make the following findings of fact and conclusions of law, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a).

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff Motor Master Products Corporation, a manufacturer and nationwide seller of automotive parts and components, is an Illinois corporation maintaining its principal place of business in Defiance, Ohio. Plaintiff also maintains a distribution center in Columbus, Ohio, for the assembly and cataloguing of its products [N.T. 1-15 to 1-16].

2. Defendant Motor Masters Warehouse, Inc., a warehouse distributor of brand-name automotive parts and components, is a Pennsylvania corporation maintaining its principal place of business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Defendant also maintains a business office in Collingswood, New Jersey [N.T. 2-64 to 2-65, 2-101 to 2-102],

3. There is no business affiliation or connection between plaintiff and defendant [N.T. 1-84, 2-74],

4. Since its incorporation in May of 1934, plaintiff has conducted its business operations under its corporate name and trade name, Motor Master Products Corporation. Some of the automotive parts and components marketed by plaintiff are manufactured by plaintiff itself, while other automotive parts and components are manufactured for plaintiff by other corporations and are then packaged and distributed for sale by plaintiff [N.T. 1-15 to 1-16, 1-28, 2-29, 2-48 to 2-51],

5. Plaintiff’s current product line includes automotive parts and components for use in automobiles, trucks, buses, boats, snowmobiles, agricultural equipment, construction and mining equipment, and for use in small engines such as lawnmowers, chainsaws and pumps. Parts and components marketed by plaintiff include universal joints, bearings, lubrication fittings, driveline and driveshaft parts, spark plugs and filters [N.T. 2-25 to 2-29, 1-40].

6. Plaintiff’s products are sold by factory salesmen directly employed by plaintiff, manufacturers’ agents and other sales organizations. The manufacturers’ representatives selling plaintiff’s products include 23 agencies which employ 55 agents throughout the United States. The Harry Hanser sales organization of New York represents plaintiff in Pennsylvania, and employs three agents to promote and sell plaintiff’s products within a 100-mile radius of Philadelphia [N.T. 1-116 to 1-120, 1-147],

7. Each of plaintiff’s salesmen or sales agents uses plaintiff’s marketing catalogues and descriptive sales literature to promote and sell plaintiff’s products to potential customers within the industry. Plaintiff spends $30,000 each year for its catalogues and sales literature, of which approximately $2,000 to $3,000 is spent in the Philadelphia area [N.T. 1-119 to 1-120, 2-45, Ex. P-2].

8. Plaintiff’s customers are primarily wholesalers, commonly known within the industry as “jobbers.” The automotive wholesaler or jobber purchases parts and components at a wholesale price from either a manufacturer or a warehouse distributor and stocks an inventory extensive enough to adequately support the needs of the repair industry in the wholesaler’s locality. Plaintiff also markets its products directly to “end users,” or ultimate purchasers, such as United Parcel Service or other large automotive fleets [N.T. 1-34 to 1-35,1-133, 2-51 to 2-52, 2-70 to 2-71].

9. Plaintiff owns three federal registrations for the trademark “MOTOR MASTER” as applied to spark plugs, universal joints and parts thereof. The trademarks, registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, are as follows:

*234 Registration
Trademark No. Registration Date
MOTOR MASTER 339,620 October 13,1936
MOTOR MASTER 610,599 August 15,1955 (and design)
MOTOR MASTER 636,788 November 6,1956
(and design)
[N.T. 1-19 to 1-20, Ex. P-1A, P-1B, P-1C],

10. The design used by plaintiff in its two more recent trademark registrations is the combination of a checkered racing flag with bold, sweeping print for the words “MOTOR MASTER.” This design gives the illusion of racing, speed and mobility [N.T. 1-73, 1-102 to 1-103, 2-55, Ex. P-1B, P-1C].

11. Since 1936, plaintiff has continuously used its “MOTOR MASTER” trademark, together with the registration symbol ® ordinarily used in conjunction with a trademark, to identify the products which it markets for sale.

12. All of the automotive parts and components sold by plaintiff are packaged in cartons, containers or wrappers which bear either the trademark “MOTOR MASTER” with the racing flag design, or the plaintiff’s trade name and corporate address in Defiance, Ohio, or both. This identification of plaintiff’s products is completed either by directly imprinting the trademark or tradename on the boxes or cartons, or by attaching adhesive labels which bear the trademark or trade name of plaintiff [N.T. 1-39 to 1-40, Ex. P-3A to P-3L, P-4A, P-4B].

13. The plaintiff operates on a fiscal year basis with the fiscal year ending March 31. Plaintiff’s gross sales for the past six years, as derived from its annual financial reports, are as follows:

Fiscal Year Total Sales
1978 $2,500,000 (Est.)
1977 $2,267,306.56
1976 $2,281,223.36
1975 $2,075,015.62
1974 $2,228,941.99
1973 $2,105,450.02

[N.T. 1-31 to 1-32; Zeller Affidavit, dated June 7, 1977, p. 3, ¶ 7].

14. Plaintiff’s sales in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, within a 100-mile radius of Philadelphia, for the first 11 months of its 1978 fiscal year are as follows:

Sales within
Sales within 75 75 — 100 miles
State miles of Phila. of Phila.
Pennsylvania $19,980.38 $30,707.59
New Jersey $29.225.79 $71.594.68
Total - $49,206.17 $102,302.27
[N.T. 1-143 to 1-146, 2-2 to 2-3, Ex. P-13 to P-16].

15. Since its incorporation in February of 1954, defendant has conducted its business operations under its corporate name and trade name, Motor Masters Warehouse, Inc.

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Motor Master Products Corp. v. Motor Masters Warehouse, Inc., 463 F. Supp. 232, 202 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 213, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16027 (E.D. Pa. 1978).

463 F. Supp. 232 (Motor Master Products Corp. v. Motor Masters Warehouse, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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