Teele Soap Mfg. Co. v. Pine Tree Products Co.

8 F. Supp. 546, 1934 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1440
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Hampshire
DecidedNovember 3, 1934
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 8 F. Supp. 546 (Teele Soap Mfg. Co. v. Pine Tree Products Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Teele Soap Mfg. Co. v. Pine Tree Products Co., 8 F. Supp. 546, 1934 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1440 (D.N.H. 1934).

Opinion

MORRIS, District Judge.

This matter arises on the petition of the" Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., filed June 11,1934, seeking to have the Teele Soap Manufacturing Company, Elliot W. Denault, and Talbot C. Chase adjudged in contempt for violation of an injunctive order of this court entered April 2, 1934.

In order for a clear understanding of the nature of the proceedings, it seems necessary to review briefly the ease leading up to the injunction.

On August 7,1933, the Teele Soap Manufacturing- Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and having its principal place of business at Cambridge in said commonwealth, *547 filed a bill in equity against the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., a corporation organized under the laws of the state of New Hampshire, and having its principal place of business at Newport in said state seeking to have determined and established the validity of a certain contract between the parties dated June 23, 1932, and a supplemental contract dated August 1, 1932, by the terms of which the Teele Soap Manufacturing Company agreed to manufacture for the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., a brand of soap known as “Billy B. Yan’s Pine Tree Soap.”

On September 7, 1933, the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., filed an answer setting forth that the contract was induced by fraud and that the Teele Soap Manufacturing Company had disregarded and violated its terms, and for further relief sought the cancellation of the contracts and an accounting between parties and for such other relief as might seem just.'

Injunctive orders and interlocutory decrees were from time to time made in the ease regulating the conduct of the business during the pendency of the proceedings. It does not seem necessary for the determination of the issues now involved to further than mention such interlocutory proceedings.

The ease finally came on for hearing on its merits at Littleton October 12,1933, and continued for several weeks. A final rescript was filed by the court February 21, 1934.

On April 2,1934, a final decree in accordance with the court’s rescript was filed canceling the contracts of July 23,1932, and August 1, 1932, and an injunctive order issued “that the Teele Soap Mfg. Co. be and hereby is permanently and perpetually enjoined from manufacturing, vending or in any way dealing in Billy B. Yan’s Pine Tree Soap or any soap or other products as and for Billy B. Yan’s pine tree soap or other products of the Pine Tree Products Co., Inc., including all soap or products covered by a certain trademark number 204979, registered in the United States patent office on Oct. 27, 1925, and from manufacturing, vending or dealing in soap or products in any manner or way likely to cause the same to be mistaken for said soap and products of said Pine Tree Products Co. Inc., or likely to deceive purchasers by leading them to believe the same to be the said soap or products of said Pine Tree Products Co. Inc.”

“That the Teele Soap Mfg. Co. be and hereby is permanently and perpetually enjoined from manufacturing, representing and/or holding out to the trade that any soap manufactured or sold by it is made in accordance with the secret formula of the Wrisley Company turned over by it to the Teele Soap Mfg. Co., at the request of the Pine Tree Products Co. Inc., which formula has been impounded in this court as a trade secret; and it is hereby ordered that said formula and/or any copy thereof in the hands or possession of the Teele Soap Mfg. Co., be turned over forthwith to the Pine Tree Products Co. Inc.”

“That the Teele Soap Mfg. Co. be and hereby is permanently and perpetually enjoined from hindering or preventing the Pine Tree Products Co. Inc., from purchasing or manufacturing Billy B. Yan’s Pine Tree Soap and from doing any act or acts amounting to unfair competition, tending to deceive the public, for the purpose of discouraging -or deterring purchasers or persons likely to become purchasers from purchasing said Billy B. Yan’s Pine Tree Soap or products from the Pine Tree Products Co., Inc., or from other person or persons who may he licensed to manufacture, vend or supply the same under the trademark number 204979.”

The decree further provided for the surrender and delivery forthwith to the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., at Newport, N. H., all property of the latter in the custody or possession of the Teele Soap Company. It also provided that the provisions of the temporary injunction then in force requiring the Teele Soap Manufacturing Company, to turn over to the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., 30 per cent, of the money received from all sales outside of New England until such outstanding accounts were fully paid should be continued in full force and effect, and that the Teele Soap Manufacturing Company turn over forthwith to the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., a list of all unfilled orders and all orders which might thereafter be received.

The decree of April 2, 1934, did not include the matter of accounting between the parties and/or the determination of damages.

On April 19, 1934, a final order was entered. dissolving preliminary injunctions and providing for a judgment against the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., in favor of the Teele Soap Manufacturing Company in the matter of the accounting in the sum of $13,900.

Nothing further was heard from the ease until June 11,1934, when the Pine Tree Prod *548 uets Company, Inc., filed a petition to have the Teele Soap Manufacturing Company adjudged in contempt for violation of the injunction of April 2, 1984.

The allegations in the petition complained: (1) That the Teele Soap Manufacturing Company failed to return to the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., certain property of the latter, namely, certain appurtenances to certain dies as required by the order; (2) that it failed to turn over to the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc., 30 per cent, of the money received of all sales outside of New England; (3) that it failed to turn over copies of the secret formulas as required by said decree; (4) that it manufactured and/ or vended certain liquid Pine Tree soap in violation of the decree; (5) that it manufactured, vended, and dealt in soap of a green color and with a pine tree stamped on it which was likely to deceive purchasers by leading them to believe the same to be soap or products of the Pine Tree Products Company, Inc.; (6) that it sent' out to the trade green soap stamped with a pine tree on it, with letters containing misstatements and designed to deceive the public for the purpose of discouraging or deterring persons likely to become purchasers from purchasing Pine Tree soap from the petitioner, and circulating with said letters clippings of an article in the Boston Post furnished from information given by said Denault tending to mislead the public in violation of the decree.

This matter came on for hearing on its merits July 6, 1934, and, after hearing the parties and their counsel, I find the following facts:

I will deal with the several claims in their order:

Claim 1: From the evidence it appears that the bulk of the property in possession of the Teele Soap Company was surrendered to the Pine Tree Products Company and delivered by truck to Newport, N.

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Bluebook (online)
8 F. Supp. 546, 1934 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1440, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/teele-soap-mfg-co-v-pine-tree-products-co-nhd-1934.