St. Charles Manufacturing Co. v. St. Charles Furniture Corp.

482 F. Supp. 397, 206 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 342, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9978
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 6, 1979
Docket79 C 1214
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 482 F. Supp. 397 (St. Charles Manufacturing Co. v. St. Charles Furniture Corp.) 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
St. Charles Manufacturing Co. v. St. Charles Furniture Corp., 482 F. Supp. 397, 206 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 342, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9978 (N.D. Ill. 1979).

Opinion

ORDER

ROSZKOWSKI, District Judge.

The court has reviewed the briefs and exhibits filed by the parties in connection with plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction, as well as the testimony in open court of F. Steven Berg, President and Chief Executive Officer of defendant’s parent corporation, on the issue of whether defendant’s name was chosen in good faith. Based on this review, the court grants plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction and the following constitute the findings of fact and conclusions of law required by F.R.C.P. 52(a).

1. Plaintiff, St. Charles Manufacturing Co., is an Illinois Corporation having its principal place of business at 1611 E. Main Street, St. Charles, Illinois.

2. Defendant, St. Charles Furniture Corp., is a Delaware Corporation having a principal place of business at Wright City, Missouri.

3. Defendant, Wieboldt Stores, Inc., is an Illinois Corporation having a principal place of business at 1 North State Street, Chicago, Illinois.

4. This is an action for infringement of federally registered trademarks and service marks, and false representation, both arising under the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. §§ 1051-1127), and unfair competition, dilution, deceptive trade practices and consumer fraud under the laws of the State of Illinois. This court has jurisdiction over the subject matter herein pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1211, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332, 1338(a) and 1338(b). Further, this Court has personal jurisdiction over the parties named herein.

5. For more than 40 years, plaintiff, St. Charles Manufacturing Co. has been, and continues to be engaged, in the business of designing and manufacturing furniture cabinets for use in homes, laboratories, schools and hospitals. Plaintiff has carried on this business throughout the United States and is recognized as a leading manufacturer of quality furniture.

6. Plaintiff has, since the inception of its business, extensively advertised and marketed its design services and furniture products under its trade name and trademark “St. Charles”. This mark has been used throughout the United States in connection with the advertising and sale of St. Charles’ products and services. In particular, advertising using plaintiff’s mark “St. Charles” has occurred through magazines, displays, billboards, cards, newspapers, telephone yellow pages, posters and promotional items.

7. As a result of plaintiff St. Charles’ extensive sales and advertising of its furniture products and services in association with its mark and name “St. Charles”, and due to the excellent quality of such products, St. Charles enjoys and has long enjoyed an exceedingly valuable reputation and good will among the trade and purchasing public with respect to its services and products bearing its “St. Charles” name and mark. Long prior to defendants’ acts complained of, the consuming public has recognized, and now recognizes, the trademark “St. Charles”, as applied to furniture products, as being associated with plaintiff alone. The mark and name “St. Charles” has acquired a secondary meaning in the United States as identifying and distinguishing furniture products and services as coming exclusively from plaintiff.

8. Plaintiff the owner of federal trademark and service mark registrations covering the mark “St. Charles”. Each of these registrations is valid, subsisting, and in full force and effect. Such registrations include the following:

*401 MARK REGISTRATION NO. AND DATE DATE OF FIRST USE GOODS OR SERVICES
St. Charles 748,839 1939 Furniture Casework
St. Charles 1,093,131 Dec. 81,1939 Furniture Casework and custom design of furniture.

These registrations were either in existence, or applied for, in the Patent and Trademark Office prior to defendant’s adoption of the name “St. Charles”.

9. On or about, May, 1977, defendant St. Charles commenced using the mark and name “St. Charles” in connection with furniture products. Defendant St. Charles, in advertising its goods, generally uses the term in a trademark manner, presenting the trademark “St. Charles” in type larger than adjacent words and in a manner to call attention to such trademark.

10. Defendant St. Charles began its use of the mark “St. Charles” on furniture products in May, 1977 when the bankrupt “Permaneer” furniture company of Wright City, Missouri was purchased by National Home Products, the parent corporation of defendant St. Charles. Mr. F. Steven Berg, President and Chairman of National Home Products, was directly responsible for the selection and adoption of the name “St. Charles”. Based on the demeanor of Mr. Berg when he testified in these proceedings, his testimony was credible that he was unaware of plaintiff in selecting defendant’s name and that Mr. Berg had no intent to trade upon plaintiff’s name. The name “Permaneer” was dropped because it had a bad reputation. Mr. Berg admitted that the good name of a business is important to its success.

11. Defendant is not located in either St. Charles, Missouri or in the county of St. Charles. In fact defendant is located in Wright City, Missouri, several miles from St. Charles.

12. Defendant St. Charles has used “St. Charles” extensively on business cards, invoices, stationery, printed advertising and furniture cartons.

13. Although notified of infringement by plaintiff in about November of 1978, defendant has refused to change its name.

14. The designation “St. Charles” alone, or names such as “St. Charles Furniture Corp.” as used by defendants, dominated by the word “St. Charles” are so similar or nearly identical to plaintiff’s name and trademark “St. Charles” as to constitute colorable imitations thereof and are likely to result in confusion, mistake and deception as to the source or origin of the products or as to some association, sponsorship or connection between defendant St. Charles and plaintiff. Defendant’s use of the mark “St. Charles” constitutes an infringement and dilution of plaintiff’s distinctive trademarks and service marks and a false representation of origin and unfair competition against plaintiff.

15. Defendant Wieboldt’s, in conjunction with defendant St. Charles, through advertising offered furniture products for sale under the mark “St. Charles” in the Chicago Tribune.

' 16. The aforesaid acts of defendants, if continued, would jeopardize and irreparably damage plaintiff’s intangible good will and business reputation associated with and based on its “St. Charles” marks.

17. Irreparable injury would also occur to plaintiff St. Charles if preliminary injunctive relief against defendant’s use of the trade name and trademark “St. Charles” were not entered.

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Bluebook (online)
482 F. Supp. 397, 206 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 342, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9978, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-charles-manufacturing-co-v-st-charles-furniture-corp-ilnd-1979.