Pennsylvania Dutch Co. v. Pennsylvania Amish Co.

59 Pa. D. & C.2d 669, 1973 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 505
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cumberland County
DecidedJanuary 16, 1973
Docketno. 2
StatusPublished

This text of 59 Pa. D. & C.2d 669 (Pennsylvania Dutch Co. v. Pennsylvania Amish Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cumberland County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pennsylvania Dutch Co. v. Pennsylvania Amish Co., 59 Pa. D. & C.2d 669, 1973 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 505 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1973).

Opinion

WEIDNER, J„

This is a case of unfair competition in which plaintiff seeks preliminary injunctive relief from the alleged unfair trade practices of defendant corporation. Plaintiff has attempted to show a clear right to relief by proving that, in entering the same line of business, defendant has chosen a corporate name and manner of marketing deceptively similar to that already employed by plaintiff, the result of which has been to create a likelihood that consumers will confuse defendant’s products with plaintiff’s established name and reputation. During the course of litigation, defendant has offered exhibits and depositions into evidence on which this court has reserved ruling for this opinion.

ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE

Defendant offers depositions containing statements made by Lincoln Warrell, President of Pennsylvania Dutch Co., Inc., in a prior judicial proceeding. Defendant seeks to introduce the depositions on two theories which this court here affirms: First, as prior admissions against interests by the witness, Warrell, which are relevant to a determination of this litigation, and thereby as substantive evidence; and, second, as prior statements made by Warrell inconsistent with his [671]*671testimony in the present action, for impeachment purposes.

It is well-established law in Pennsylvania that a judicial admission may be made in any judicial proceeding, and it is competent as evidence in the same case or in another action: Commonwealth, by Truscott v. Binenstock, 358 Pa. 644 (1948). Admissions against interest clearly and voluntarily made by a party ordinarily possess high evidentiary value and are received on the theory that one would not say anything against his own interest unless it was true.

The depositions in question include testimony by President Warrell relating to the common usage of the term “Pennsylvania Dutch” throughout the food industry, including a disclaimer by Warrell of a protectable interest in the descriptive term “Amish.” This is not only relevant to the case at bar, but is in direct contradiction to what this court finds, infra, an element critical to plaintiff’s cause of action, clearly an admission against plaintiff’s interests in its present claim. As such, these admissions should be admitted as substantive evidence, unless barred by the fact that they are being offered by deposition.

Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 4020(b) provides for the use of depositions at subsequent trials involving the same subject and parties or their representatives in interest. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has applied that rule itself in Ryan v. Kirk, 407 Pa. 197 (1962), to allow a deposition taken from Kirk in a prior trial to be introduced into evidence as an admission against his interest, where both Ryan and plaintiff in the prior action were members of the same class in interest and where both litigations revolved around the same subject, an identical situation to that before the court here.

[672]*672In Ryan, supra, the Supreme Court concluded its ruling by stating:

“We will not restrict the use of a deposition in a subsequent proceeding more than is required by a reasonable interpretation of Pa. R. C. P. 4020(b).”

Applying that same standard, it is clear that the depositions offered by defendant qualify for admission under Rule 4020(b). In the present case, Pennsylvania Amish Co., Inc., seeks to introduce into evidence, as an admission against plaintiff’s interest, a deposition taken from an officer of plaintiff company in a prior trial. Pennsylvania Amish is decidedly in the same class as Keppel’s, Inc., defendant in the prior case. Pennsylvania Amish, like Keppel’s, is being sued by plaintiff for unfair competition in an action involving the right to a protectable interest in the descriptive term “Pa. Dutch” and its complementary promotional motif.

Accordingly, defendant’s depositions are admissible as substantive evidence, where relevant to the issues in question, and, as evidence tending to impeach the testimony of plaintiff’s witness, Warrell.

Additionally, plaintiff has objected to the admission of defendant’s exhibits nos. 1, 2, 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, they being a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe book, a food catalogue and candy products distributed by a competing company using the Dutch motif in advertising and labeling. The sole evidentiary value of these exhibits would be to demonstrate how the word “Dutch” and the Dutch motif are used by competing firms, other than Pennsylvania Dutch Co., Inc., and Pennsylvania Amish Co., Inc. Such evidence would tend to disprove exclusive use of those terms by plaintiff.

As averred by plaintiff, proof of secondary meaning synonymous with plaintiff’s business, or even proof [673]*673of exclusive use of the name “Pennsylvania Dutch” by plaintiff is not required to establish plaintiff’s right to relief. Such factors are probative, however, in determining what degree of similarity in name and labeling will cause a likelihood of consumer confusion: Restatement, Torts, §729; see comment g. Since the test for unfair competition is the probability of consumer confusion, defendant’s exhibits 1, 2, 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 are relevant and admissible.

Likewise, plaintiff’s claim that defendant’s exhibits nos. 27, 28, 29 and 30 bear no relevance to this action must be denied, where the exhibits tend to establish the significance of plaintiff’s trademark. Since proof of a legally granted trademark normally attests to exclusive use of the designation by its owner, proof of that trademark would be a material consideration in determining the likelihood of consumer confusion. Evidence tending to qualify plaintiff’s trademark by denying such exclusive use, would be of equal relevance, and is, therefore, admissible.

REQUEST FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

Plaintiff, in the instant case, seeks the extreme and infrequently granted relief of a preliminary injunction. Alleging unfair competition, plaintiff seeks to enjoin defendant, Pennsylvania Amish Co., Inc., from competing in the candy and food confectionery business under its present corporate name and by way of its currently employed trademarks, names and business practices.

It is clearly established law in Pennsylvania that a preliminary injunction should be granted only where: (1) The rights of the plaintiff are clear; (2) There is an urgent necessity to avoid injury which cannot be compensated for by damages; and (3) Greater injury will be done by refusing it than by [674]*674granting it: Sameric Corporation of Market Street v. Goss, 448 Pa. 497 (1972).

Failure to establish any one of these elements will prove fatal to the request for so drastic a remedy.

As will be shown, it is this court’s opinion that at least one of the requirements for granting the relief sought has not been established, and the request for such relief must, therefore, be denied.

As to the first requirement, defendants are engaged in a business identical in many respects to plaintiff’s. As competition, Pennsylvania Amish offers products similar, or identical, to those offered by Pennsylvania Dutch, by way of similar advertisement, supply and packaging, and to the same consumer population. In short, defendants compete in the same market as plaintiff by way of identical business practices.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 Pa. D. & C.2d 669, 1973 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 505, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennsylvania-dutch-co-v-pennsylvania-amish-co-pactcomplcumber-1973.