Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/221/580
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 18:39:19+00:00

Document:
PERE ALFREDO LUIS BAGLIN, Superior General of the Order of Carthusian Monks, for Himself and All of the Other Members of Said Order, Appt., v. CUSENIER COMPANY.
Argued: March 14, 15, 1911.
Messrs. Philip Mauro, C. A. L. Massie, and Ralph L. Scott for appellant.
Messrs. Adolph L. Pincoffs and Roger Foster for appellee.
The facts, so far as we deem it necessary to state them, are as follows: For several hundred years prior to 1903,save for a comparatively brief period following the French Revolution,the Order of Carthusian Monks occupied the Monastery of the Grande Chartreuse, near Voiron, in the Department of Isere, in France. This was their Mother House. There, by a secret process, they made the liqueur or cordial which, at first sold locally, became upwards of fifty years ago the subject of an extensive trade and is known throughout the world as 'Chartreuse.' The monks originally manufactured the liqueur at the monastery itself, and later at Fourvoirie, close by. It was marketed, here and abroad, in bottles of distinctive shape, to which were attached labels bearing the inscription, 'Liqueur Fabriquee a la Gde. Chartreuse,' with a facsimile of the signature of L. Garnier, a former procureur of the order, and its insignia, a globe, cross, and seven stars; and these symbols with 'Gde. Chartreuse' underneath were also ground into the glass. In 1876, the then procureur registered two trademarks in the Patent Office, and these were re-registered in 1884, under the act of 1881 21 Stat. at L. 502, chap. 138, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 3401. In the accompanying statement the one was said to consist 'of the word 'Chartreuse,' accompanied by a facsimile of the signature of L. Garnier,' and the other 'of the word-symbol 'Chartreuse;" and the combinations in which these were used were described.
Meanwhile the monks, debarred by the proceedings in France from the use of their old marks and symbols in that country, devised a new designation for their liqueur, in which prominence was given to the words 'Peres Chartreux.' The new label bore the inscription 'Liqueur Fabriquee a Tarragone par les Peres Chartreux;' and this was accompanied by the statement that 'this liqueur is the only one identically the same as that made at the Monastery of the Grande Chartreuse in France, previous to the expulsion of the monks, who have kept intact the secret of its manufacture.' To negative the claim of abandonment they made a small shipment to this country under the old labels. And both here and in other countries, the monks have sought by legal proceedings to prevent the use of the word 'Chartreuse' as a designation of the liqueur made at Fourvourie since their expulsion, and the use or imitation by the liquidator or by those claiming under him of the marks which the monks had associated with their product, and the simulaing in any way of the dress or packages in which it had been sold.
On final hearing the circuit court adjudged 'that the word-symbol 'Chartreuse,' as applied to liqueur or cordial,' and that 'the said word-symbol 'Chartreuse' accompanied by the facsimile signature of L. Garnier,' as set forth in the certificates of registry in the Patent Office, 'constitute good and valid trademarks, and in this country have been and now are the sole and exclusive property of said complainants, the Carthusian monks or fathers (Peres Chartreux); and that in this country the said complainants still have the right, and the exclusive right, to use the said marks, or any of them, upon liqueurs or cordials manufactured by the complainants.' It was further adjudged that the defendant had been guilty of infringement of these trademarks and of unfair competition, and the decree also contained a perpetual injunction.
The defendant contends that the circuit court was without jurisdiction. This objection must fail, as it sufficiently appears from the record that the controversy was between foreign subjects and a New York corporation. And there was also an assertion by the bill of a right under the Federal statute, by virtue of the registration of the trademarks. Warner v. Searle & H. Co. 191 U. S. 195, 48 L. ed. 145, 24 Sup. Ct. Rep. 19; Standard Paint Co. v. Trinidad Asphalt Mfg. Co. decided April 10, 1911, 220 U. S. 446, 55 L. ed. , 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 456; Jacobs v. Beecham, decided May 15, 1911 221 U. S. 263, 55 L. ed. , 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 555.
The validity of this argument cannot be admitted upon the facts which we deem to be established and controlling. It is undoubtedly true that names which are merely geographical cannot be the subject of exclusive appropriation as trademarks. 'Their nature is such that they cannot point to the origin (personal origin) or ownership of the articles of trade to which they may be applied. They point only at the place of production, not to the producer, and could they be appropriated exclusively, the appropriation would result in mischievous monopolies.' Delaware & H. Canal Co. v. Clark, 13 Wall. p. 324, 20 L. ed. 583. See also Columbia Mill Co. v. Alcorn, 15o U. S. 460, 37 L. ed. 1144, 14 Sup. Ct. Rep. 151; Elgin Nat. Watch Co. v. Illinois Watch Case Co. 179 U. S. 665, 45 L. ed. 365, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 270.
This familia principle, however, is not applicable here. It is not necessary for us to determine the origin of the name of the order and its chief monastery. If it be assumed that the monks took their name from the region in France in which they settled in the eleventh century, it still remains true that it became peculiarly their designation. And the word 'Chartreuse,' as applied to the liqueur which for generations they made and sold, cannot be regarded in a proper sense as a geographical name. It had exclusive reference to the fact that it was the liqueur made by the Carthusian monks at their monastery. So far as it embraced the notion of place, the description was not of a district, but of the monastery of the order,the abode of the monks,and the term in its entirety pointed to production by the monks.
The claim of the monks to an exclusive right in this designation as applied to the liqueur has been frequently the subject of litigation, and has repeatedly been sustained. In 1872, La Cour de Cassation in Le Pere Louis Garnier v. Paul Garnier, 17 Annales, p. 259, held that 'the word 'Chartreuse,' applied as a denomination to the liqueur manufactured by the religious community of which Pere Garnier is the representative, is but an abbreviation and the equivalent of a designation more complete; for it at once indicates the name of the fabricants (the Chartreux); the name or commercial firm of manufacture, which is no other than the community of these same Chartreux, and, finally, the place of manufacture; that is to say, the monastery of La Grande Chartreuse.' It was concluded that the designation was the exclusive property of the monks. Mr. Browne, after quoting the above passage, adds: 'That single word' (Chartreuse) 'contains a long history of strife. It has repeatedly been held to be a perfect trademark, for the reasons just cited.' Browne, Trade-Marks, §§ 582, 407-410. See also 17 Annales, 241, 249; Rey v. Lecouturier, supra, Grezier v. Girard, and others, United States circuit court, southern district of New York, 1876, not reported; A. Bauer & Co. v. Carthusian Monks, 56 C. C. A. 484, 120 Fed. 48.
We find no error, therefore, in this determination of the judgment. The registered trademarks were valid. In the statements for registration, the symbols actually used in combination were set forth. Take, for example, the mark in the glass of the bottle, consisting of 'Gde. Chartreuse' under the globe, cross, and seven stars. This undoubtedly is a valid mark. And the same is true of the other marks, shown on the labels attached to the bottles, which included the ecclesiastical symbols and the facsimile of the signature of L. Garnier. It follws that up to the time of their expulsion from the monastery, the monks were entitled to protection against the infringement of these marks, which were their exclusive property, as well as against unfair competition.
'The claim of the receiver to the property of the trademarks registered in the foreign countries raises the question whether the law of July 1st, 1901, which is a law of exception and police, controls or not, beyond the territory of the Republic, the properties of the dissolved congregations, and whether the trademarks registered in foreign lands are an accessory of the commercial holding of Fourvoirie, thus coming under this title into the liquidation, or whether they constitute a distinct and independent property from this commercial holding.
Now what was the case with respect to the business to which the trademarks in this county related? That business consisted of the manufacture by the monks, according to their secret process, of a liqueur of which the marks and symbols were the trade designation. They took their secret with them to Spain and continued the manufacture of the liqueur. The monks' secret was not the subject of seizure by the liquidator, and did not pass to him. It is not pretended that he or his vendee have manufactured the liqueur at Fourvoirie under a formula or recipe derived from the monks, but it is maintained that a formula believed to be essentially similar has been arrived at by experimentation, in accordance with which the liquidator and the French Company have been making their liqueur. We are not concerned with their authority under the French law to conduct this business, but it is not the business to which the trademarks in this country relate. That business is being conducted according to the ancient process by the monks themselves. The French law cannot be conceived to have any extraterritorial effect to detach the trademarks in this country from the product of the monks, which they are still manufacturing.
What basis is there in this case for a finding of intent to abandon the old marks? It is to be remembered that they were of a personal character, involving the adaptation of the name and the use of the ecclesiastical symbols of the order. It is pointed out that, to show that there was no intention to abandon, a shipment was made to this country from Tarragona, of the monks' liqueur, under the old marks. But it is not necessary to rest on that. The attitude of the monks in their efforts here and in other countries to prevent the use of the old marks shows clearly that there has been no intention to abandon. It was natural enough that the monks, unable to use their former marks in France, ahould desire to bring into use a designation which could be available there as well as in other countries. But this is far from indicating the slightest disposition to surrender to the world the right to denominate liqueurs by the ancient name and symbols taken from their own order. As soon as the liquidator, as the result of his experiments, announced that he was prepared to put upon the market 'the Grande Chartreuse Liqueur' under the same labels as theretofore,'the only guaranty of authenticity and of origin of the Chartreuse made at the monastery,'the monks promptly asserted their rights.
In dealing, however, with the question of unfair trade, it is to be remembered that the liquidator, and the French company to whom he sold, lawfully conducted the manufacturing business at Fourvoirie, and, of course, were entitled respectively to sell their product here. They were entitled to state that they made it, and the place and circumstances of its manufacture. In short, they were not debarred from making a statement of the facts, including the appointment of the liquidator and the French company's succession by virtue of his sale, provided it were made fairly, and were not couched in language, or arranged in a manner, which would be misleading, and would show an endeavor to trade upon the repute of the monks' cordial. It is also to be noted that the words 'Grande Chartreuse' form a part of the name of the French company which it, and the defendants, as its representative, had a right to use in lawful trade. But neither it nor the defendant was entitled to use the word 'Chartreuse' as the name or designation of the liqueur it manufactured, and in any other use of that word, or in any reference to the monks, in its statement of the facts, it was bound by suitable and definite specification to make clear the distinction between its product and the liqueur made by the monks.
The modification, in this form, should therefore be struck out; but, more completely to adapt the remedy to the conditions disclosed, there should be inserted in the fourth paragraph of the decreein that portion which contains the injunction against unfair tradea provision restraining the use of the word 'Chartreuse' in connection with the sales of liqueur not made by the monks, as the name of or as descriptive of the liqueur, or without clearly distinguishing it from the monks' product.
4. It is further adjudged, ordered, and decreed that defendant, its associates, successors, assigns, officers, servants clerks, agents, and workmen, and each of them, be, and they hereby are, perpetually enjoined from using in this country or in any possession thereof, in connection with any liqueur or cordial not manufactured by complainants, the trademark 'Chartreuse' or any colorable imitation thereof, or the facsimile signature of L. Garnier, or any colorable imitation thereof, or any of the trademarks above referred to, or any colorable imitation thereof; and they and each of them are likewise perpetually enjoined from importing or putting out, or selling or offering for sale, directly or indirectly, within this country or in any possession thereof, any liqueur or cordial not manufactured by complainants in any dress or package like or simulating in any material respects the dress or package heretofore used by complainants, and in particular from making use of any label or symbol like or substantially similar to those appearing on 'complainants' exhibit defendant's liqueur,' being the bottle now on file as an exhibit in this court; and from using the word 'Chartreuse' in connection with the importing, putting out, or sale of such liqueur or cordial, as the name of or as descriptive of such liqueur or cordial, or without clearly distinguishing such liqueur or cordial from the liqueur or cordial manufactured by the complainants, and from in any wise attempting to make use of the good will and reputation of complainants in putting out in this country any liqueur or cordial not made by complainants. judged the defendant in contempt and imposed a fine. The order was reversed by the circuit court of appeals, and the complainants have applied for a writ of certiorari, which is granted.
UNITED STATES v. PINK, Superintendent of Insurance of State of New York, et al.
G. & C. MERRIAM COMPANY, Appt., v. SYNDICATE PUBLISHING COMPANY.

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