Phillips v. THE GOVERNOR & CO., ETC.

79 F.2d 971, 27 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 229, 1935 U.S. App. LEXIS 4311
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedNovember 4, 1935
Docket7800
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 79 F.2d 971 (Phillips v. THE GOVERNOR & CO., ETC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Phillips v. THE GOVERNOR & CO., ETC., 79 F.2d 971, 27 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 229, 1935 U.S. App. LEXIS 4311 (9th Cir. 1935).

Opinion

HANEY, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff seeks, by this suit, a permanent injunction against defendant, restraining the latter from in any way advertising or conducting business under the name of “Hudson Bay Fur Company” or any colorable imitation thereof, or any similar name calculated to deceive the public and to create the impression that the defendant is in any manner identified or affiliated with plaintiff. Plaintiff also asked damages, but no evidence was introduced in support thereof. Upon trial in the court below, plaintiff prevailed, and from the decree defendant appealed.

Gharles II granted a royal charter to ■“The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson’s Bay” in May, 1670, commonly known as “Hudson’s Bay Company.” For many years, this corporate plaintiff has maintained trading posts throughout a part of Canada for the purpose of purchasing furs from trappers. These furs, most of which are raw furs, are shipped to London, England, where they are sold at auction in lots. Plaintiff also sells blankets under the name “Hudson’s Bay Point Blankets,” tobacco, and tea. Although plaintiff maintains no retail stores in the United States nor does it sell these articles in the United States, such products are sold in the United States, mainly through jobbers. Plaintiff now has about three hundred stores and trading posts in Canada.

Plaintiff sells fur and other garments in its stores in Canada, but it does not appear that it manufactures any of the fur garments, but purchases them for resale, on the open market. These garments may or may not be made from the furs sold by plaintiff at auction in - London. Plaintiff corporation has existed for more than 250 years, and during its existence it has come to be known as a great fur producing and trading establishment, and has acquired a recognized reputation for reliable business dealing.

Defendant maintains a retail store in Reno, Nev., known as the “Hudson Bay Fur Co.,” which store under that name has been continuously in business since 1919. In some of his advertising, in addition to the name “Hudson Bay Fur Co.” he has added “Fred Phillips, Prop.,” both in newspaper advertisements and on billboards. Since 1927, the sign above the store immediately under the name “Hudson Bay Fur Co.” there has been and is in smaller letters the following: “Not connected with the Hudson Bay Co. of Canada.” A great many of defendant’s advertisements contain only the name “Hudson Bay Fur Co.”

At the outset, we must say that, although plaintiff is a citizen of a foreign country, it is entitled to protection in the United States of America against unfair competition, if tljere is unfair competition, by virtue of a treaty between a great many countries, including the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British territories beyond the seas, and the United States of America, as modified in 1911, which treaty among other things provided that the contracting parties constituted a state of union, and that: “All the contracting countries agree to assure to the members of the union an effective protection against unfair competition.” (38 Stat. 1663, art. io%.)

There was also a treaty entered into between the United States and Great Britain on October 24, 1877 (20 Stat. 703), wherein it was provided: “The subjects or citizens of each of the contracting parties shall have, in the dominions and possessions of the other, the same rights as belong to native subjects or citizens, or as are now granted or may hereafter be granted to the subjects and citizens of the most favoured nation, in ev *973 erything relating to property in trademarks and trade-labels.”

Plaintiff has heretofore obtained injunctions against other defendants restraining the latter from using the name used by defendant here. Two of these cases are: Buckspan v. Hudson’s Bay Co. (C. C. A. 5) 22 F.(2d) 721; The Governor, etc., Trading into Hudson’s Bay v. Hudson Bay Fur Co. (D. C. Minn.) 33 F.(2d) 801.

It is first contended by defendant that since plaintiff has a geographical name, it is not entitled to the exclusive use thereof, and for that reason there can be no unfair competition.

In Elgin National Watch Co. v. Illinois Watch Case Co., 179 U. S. 665, 673, 21 S. Ct. 270, 273, 45 L. Ed. 365, it is said :

“And the general rule is thoroughly established, that words that do not in and of themselves indicate anything in the nature of origin, manufacture, or ownership, but are merely descriptive of the place where an article is manufactured or produced, cannot be monopolized as a trademark. * * *
“But it is contended that the name 'Elgin’ had acquired a secondary signification in connection with its use by appellant, and should not, for that reason, be considered or treated as merely a geographical name. It is undoubtedly true that where such a secondary signification has been acquired, its use in that sense will be protected by restraining the use of the word by others in such a way as to amount to a fraud on the public, and on those to whose employment of it the special meaning has become attached.
“In other words, the manufacturer of particular goods is entitled to the reputation they have acquired, and the public is entitled to the means of distinguishing between those and other goods; and protection is accorded against unfair dealing, whether there be a technical trademark or not. The essence of the wrong consists in the sale of the goods of one manufacturer or vendor for those •of another.”

See, also, Scandinavia Belting Co. v. Asbestos & Rubber Works, 169 C. C. A. 87, 257 F. 937 (certiorari denied 250 U. S. 644, 39 S. Ct. 494, 63 L. Ed. 1186); Trappey v. McIlhenny Co. (C. C. A.) 281 F. 23 (certiorari denied 260 U. S. 733, 43 S. Ct. 94, 67 L. Ed. 487); Finchley, Inc., v. Finchly Co. (D. C.) 40 F.(2d) 736; American Products Co. v. American Products Co. (D. C.) 42 F.(2d) 488; 63 C. J. 426, § 116.

It abundantly appears that plaintiff’s name has acquired a secondary significance in the kind and quality of its goods, and therefore it is no objection to the issuance of an injunction that its name is geographical.

Defendant’s second contention is that no injunction should issue, because “Hudson’s Bay” is a mere descriptive term and therefore plaintiff is not entitled to the exclusive use thereof. He states that there are cities named “Hudson” and “Hudson Falls”; that there is a “Hudson” river and a “Hudson” motorcar, and that “Hudson” in the fur industry has been used to denote a particular fur, such as “Hudson Seal,” “Hudson Bay Sable,” and “Hudson Bay Seal.” In 63 C. J. 424, § 115, it is said: “Descriptive terms and generic names are publici juris and not capable of exclusive appropriation by any one, but may be used by all the world in an honestly descriptive and non-deceptive manner. * * * Nevertheless, even descriptive and generic names may not be used in such a manner as to pass off the goods or business of one man as and for that of another.

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Bluebook (online)
79 F.2d 971, 27 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 229, 1935 U.S. App. LEXIS 4311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phillips-v-the-governor-co-etc-ca9-1935.