People v. Krivitzky

60 A.D. 307, 70 N.Y.S. 173
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJuly 1, 1901
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 60 A.D. 307 (People v. Krivitzky) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Krivitzky, 60 A.D. 307, 70 N.Y.S. 173 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1901).

Opinion

Ingraham, J.:

The appellant was convicted of a violation of subdivision 1 of section 364 of the Penal Code, which provides that a person who knowingly and falsely makes or counterfeits a trade mark is guilty of a misdemeanor. Section 366 of the Penal Code defines a trade mark as a mark used to indicate the maker, owner or seller of an article of merchandise, and includes, among other things, any name of a person or corporation, or any letter, word, device, emblem, figure, [308]*308seal, stamp, * * * label or other mark, lawfully adopted by him, and usually affixed to an article of merchandise to denote that the same was imported, manufactured, produced, sold, compounded, bottled, packed or otherwise prepared by him.” The complaint upon which this conviction was had was made before' a justice at the Court of Special Sessions sitting as a magistrate, and upon this' information the appellant was examined before the magistrate according to law. He was then tried before the Court of Special Sessions and convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of $500. Upon the trial counsel for the appellant moved to dismiss the complaint and for the acquittal of the appellant, on the ground that the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a crime. That motion was denied, to which there was an exception.

We think that this complaint was clearly sufficient to bring the case within the provisions of this section of the Penal Code, and that motion was properly denied.

Upon the trial the complainant was sworn and testified that he' was a special agent for Martell & Hennessy; that he made an arrangement with the defendant whereby the defendant was to print labels in imitation of the labels of the Martell & Hennessy brandy; that Gluckman made the plates from which the labels Were to be printed, which were delivered to the appellant; that in pursuance of this agreement the appellant printed 5,000 of the said labels and delivered them to the complainant, for which the complainant paid him $62. The witness also testified that he was familiar with the labels of the Martell brandy; that he was in the employ of the proprietors of the brandy and had seen these labels used upon brandy imported from France purporting to be bottled by Martell & Hennessy. Mr. Pinlcofi was called as a witness and testified that he was acquainted with the firm of Martell & Co., and that their place of business is at Cognac, France, and that the firm is composed of Edward Martell, Reno Fereno a-nd Richard Harrison; that he visited this firm at their place of business in Cognac, France, went through their works there, saw the place where the brandy was bottled, saw these labels put on the bottles, and was familiar with the goods; that the label was thé uniform label used by this firm of Martell & Co. during the year and a half prior to the trial; that he saw this identical label used by the firm [309]*309of Martell & Oo. put on the bottles of Martell & Co. subsequently brought here, and that he received from the agent in this, country of Martell & Co. several of the original labels; that the label which was annexed to the complaint was the identical label which the witness saw affixed in France to a bottle, which bottle was put in a case and addressed to parties in America, and that the witness had also seen this identical label on the same goods in the office of the agent of Martell & Co. in Few York. Miller, the complainant, also testified that when the appellant was asked to counterfeit these labels he said that he would print them; that he had to do the jobs on Sqndays or nights; that he did not want to run any chance to be caught • that he would have to do the work either Sunday or at night, because if he did it in the day time some one might walk in and catch him; that he had made the charge that he did because it was dangerous work to print these labels. The appellant was called as a witness in his own behalf and testified that he never printed these labels and never had anything to do with the complainant.

We think this conviction was proper and should be sustained. The fact that the label which the appellant counterfeited was used by Martell & Co. upon the bottles containing their brandy which was imported into the United States and sold here, was proved. This was evidence of a practical adoption of this label as a trade mark used to indicate the maker, owner or seller of this article of merchandise. It thus brought this label within the definition of a trade mark as contained, in section 366 of the Penal Code. It was the label of Martell & Co. which they used upon their brandy to indicate that it was manufactured and sold by them. It was the label as a whole that was used as the trade mark of Martell & Co., and it was this label as a whole that the appellant counterfeited. It was sufficient to show that this label was appropriated and used by the firm of Martell & Co. upon their goods, manufactured and sold by them, to indicate that they were the manufacturers and sellers ; and that was shown by the fact that Martell & Co. did put this label upon their goods, and that goods with this label were sent by them to this country for sale. We think, therefore, that the crime charged was proved, and that the appellant was properly Convicted.

[310]*310It is urged, however, that the appellant could not be said to counterfeit this label, because he was requested to print it from a plate furnished by an agent of the owner of the trade mark, and that although he understood that he was counterfeiting the label and intended to counterfeit it, he in fact printed it for an agent of the owner, who had the right, to have it printed. By the statute, a person who “ falsely makes of counterfeits a trade-mark ” is guilty of a misdemeanor. This, complainant was not authorized to have these labels printed for Martell & Go. and did not employ the appellant to print them for that firm. The appellant was asked to print a false or counterfeit trade mark, and it was that which he did., The real label was prepared in France, put upon the bottles in France, and could only be made in this country fraudulently. Martell & Go., who own .the trade mark, never, so far as appears, authorized any one to have these labels printed in this country; and, without such authority, any one who printed them here did “ falsely make-or counterfeit ” their trade mark ; and it was just this that the appellant did. The complainant described himself as a special agent or investigator for the Martell & Hennessy brandy people, but there is no evidence that he had any authority to have genuine labels printed; and the appellant agreed to print, not genuine labels, but imitation labels, and it was this that he did, and thereby he falsely made or counterfeited the trade mark and was guilty of the offense charged.

The appellant also claims that the allowance of the demurrer to a former complaint barred all further prosecution for the same offense. It appeared that, prior to the institution of this proceeding, the defendant was arrested upon a charge made by the complainant. To this charge the appellant demurred, which demurrer Was sustained. The judgment sustaining the demurrer, however, allowed leave to resubmit. In pursuance of this leave, the complaint upon which this conviction was had was submitted to a magistrate, and upon this charge the appellant was arrested.

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

Related

People v. Flickinger
88 Misc. 2d 64 (New York Supreme Court, 1976)
People ex rel. Grossman v. Warden of City Prison
172 Misc. 183 (New York Supreme Court, 1939)
People v. Zerillo
146 A.D. 812 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1911)
People v. Strauss
94 A.D. 453 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1904)
People v. Mills
91 A.D. 331 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1904)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
60 A.D. 307, 70 N.Y.S. 173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-krivitzky-nyappdiv-1901.