Scotch Whiskey Ass'n v. Barton Distilling Company

338 F. Supp. 595, 170 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 455, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13241
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 18, 1971
Docket69 C 745
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 338 F. Supp. 595 (Scotch Whiskey Ass'n v. Barton Distilling Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scotch Whiskey Ass'n v. Barton Distilling Company, 338 F. Supp. 595, 170 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 455, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13241 (N.D. Ill. 1971).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT

LYNCH, District Judge.

1. Plaintiff, The Scotch Whiskey Association, is a corporation organized un *596 der the laws of the United Kingdom and was formed by and is comprised of distillers, blenders or brokers of Scotch whiskey (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 1).

2. Plaintiff, James Buchanan & Co. Ltd., is a corporation organized under the laws of the United Kingdom and is a blender and exporter of Scotch whiskey (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 2).

3. Plaintiff, Justerini & Brooks Limited, is a corporation organized under the laws of the United Kingdom and is engaged in the business of producing whiskey in Scotland (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 3).

4. Defendant, Barton Brand, Inc., formerly Barton Distilling Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of Delaware, having its principal place of business at 200 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, and is engaged in the United States and elsewhere in the business of producing and marketing alcoholic beverages (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 4).

5. The unqualified terms “Scotch whiskey” and “blended Scotch whiskey” designate that the whiskey sold under said terms has a place of geographic origin in Scotland (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 5).

6. Blended Scotch whiskey is made by blending vatted Scotch malts and Scotch grain whiskies (Woodhouse, R. 32,41,51; Dunnet, R. 95).

7. Whiskey produced in Scotland is exported throughout the world (R. 25-26; Woodhouse, R. 33-35; Plf.Exhs. 10, 47).

8. Exports of Scotch and Irish whiskey from the United Kingdom to Panama were for 1966: 206,000 proof gallons; for 1967: 195,000 proof gallons; for 1968: 338,000 proof gallons; and for 1969: 394,305 proof gallons, and said exports have a value of millions of dollars (Woodhouse, R. 25-26, 33-35; Plfs.Exhs. 10, 47).

9. The value of the good will of Scotch whiskey is far in excess of $10,000 exclusive of interests and costs (R. 25-26; Woodhouse, R. 33-35; Plfs. Exhs. 10, 47; Defs.Exh. 5).

10. Members of The Scotch Whiskey Association and the individual corporate plaintiffs have marketed whiskey produced in Scotland throughout the world including Panama and the Canal Zone, for many years, under labels which state that the product is Scotch whiskey (Woodhouse, R. 33-36; R. 62-63; Herod, R. 160-161; Plfs.Exhs. 10-13, 47-48).

11. Defendant, Barton Distilling Company, has long and extensively used the trademark HOUSE OF STUART for Scotch whiskey, and said trademark indicates that whiskey sold under said trademark has a place of produce and geographic origin in Scotland and is the product of defendant (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 7).

12. Cia, Diers & Ullrich S. A., Panama City, Panama is defendant’s licensee in Panama, and marketed a product under defendant’s “HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey” label in Panama and the Canal Zone (R. 99-100, 105; Plfs.Exhs. 5-8).

13. In or about 1965, defendant designed and has shipped to Diers & Ullrich from the United States “HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey” labels, including front, back and neck labels, to be used by Diers & Ullrich (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 10; R. 101-104; Plfs.Exhs. 29, 55-56).

14. The words “Producto Nacional: Fabricado por Diers & Ullrich S. A. Colon, R. P., Bajo La Supervigilancia De Barton Distilling Company, Bardstown, Ky.” appearing on the back label of the HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey labels designed by defendant and supplied to Diers & Ullrich are accurately translated into English as “National Product: Manufactured by Diers & Ullrich S. A. Colon, R. P., Under the Supervision of Barton Distilling Company, Bardstown, Ky.” (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 11).

15. On May 30, 1966, defendant was requested by Diers & Ullrich to remove *597 the word “Imported” from the back label used by Diers & Ullrich with defendant’s HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey labels as use of Imported was “forbidden by law” (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 13).

16. On May 30, 1966, defendant was requested by Diers & Ullrich to remove the statement “Product of Scotland” from the “HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey” labels (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 13).

17. Defendant has shipped to Diers & Ullrich from the United States bottles to be used by Diers & Ullrich with defendant’s HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey labels (R. 101-102; Schimpf, R. 112).

18. From 1965 through July 14, 1969, defendant shipped Diers & Ullrich vatted Scotch malts (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 15; Plfs.Exh. 57).

19. Although defendant provided its licensee with HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey labels, the only shipment of HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey which defendant made to its licensee was in June 1969 (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 15; Plfs.Exh. 57).

20. Defendant, through its licensee, Cia. Diers & Ullrich S. A., produced and marketed in Panama and the Canal Zone under labels provided by defendant bearing the designations “HOUSE OF STUART. Extra Light Blended Scotch Whiskey” and “Blended Scotch Whiskey” a spurious Scotch whiskey which included spirits not produced in Scotland, and which was made by mixing vatted Scotch malts provided by defendant with local spirits (Lohse, R. 64-69; Byers, R. 74-78; R. 80-81; Dunnet, R. 85-89; R. 102; Mardell, R. 120-122; Plfs.Exh. 31).

21. Defendant’s agreement with its licensee in Panama includes a requirement that said licensee make available to defendant samples from each bottling run and allow defendant to inspect and control the nature of the product sold by the licensee under defendant’s HOUSE OF STUART trademark (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 9; R. 99-100; Plfs.Exhs. 5-8).

22. Prior to 1968, defendant took no action to inspect samples of its licensee’s product nor did defendant inspect or control the nature of the product sold by its licensee under defendant’s HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey label (Kraus, R. 129-132; Herod R. 182).

23. On July 5, 1968, John Herod, export director of defendant’s wholly owned subsidiary, House of Stuart Bonding Co., Ltd., wrote to Diers & Ullrich requesting it to cease its practice of adding local spirits to the vatted malts shipped to it and marketed under the HOUSE OF STUART label (Pretrial Order, Joint Statement of Facts, Para. 16).

24. Other than its letter of July 5, 1968, defendant took no action to police or control its licensee’s use of defendant’s HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey labels until long after plaintiffs’ Complaint in this action was filed on April 14, 1969 (Kraus, R. 129-132; Herod, R. 182).

25. Defendant continued to ship vatted Scotch malts to Diers & Ullrich which were used in its spurious HOUSE OF STUART Blended Scotch Whiskey product subsequent to the filing of this suit in April 1969 (Plfs.Exh. 57; R. 102).

26.

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338 F. Supp. 595, 170 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 455, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scotch-whiskey-assn-v-barton-distilling-company-ilnd-1971.