Source: http://www.leagle.com/decision/19821170692F2d478_11080/NATIONAL%20CONFERENCE%20OF%20BAR%20EXAMINERS%20v.%20MULTISTATE%20LEGAL%20STUDIES
Timestamp: 2017-06-24 03:41:44
Document Index: 165673687

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 202', '§ 1125', '§ 311', '§ 202', '§ 408', '§ 8', '§ 704', '§ 202', '§ 408', '§ 411', '§ 202', '§ 408', '§ 704', '§ 8', '§ 408', '§ 7', '§ 1125', '§ 1064', '§ 2', '§ 202', '§ 408', 'art:\n6', '§ 101', '§ 220']

NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BAR EXAMINERS v. MULTISTATE LEGAL STUDIES | 692 F.2d 478 (1982) | Leagle.com
692 F.2d 478 (1982)
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BAR EXAMINERS v. MULTISTATE LEGAL STUDIES
Citing Case 692 F.2d 478 (1982)
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BAR EXAMINERS and Educational Testing Service, Plaintiffs and Counterdefendants-Appellees,
MULTISTATE LEGAL STUDIES, INC., Defendant and Counterplaintiff-Appellant.
Before SWYGERT, Senior Circuit Judge, BAUER, Circuit Judge, and DAVIES, Senior District Judge.
In this action for copyright infringement and unfair competition defendant and counterplaintiff-appellant Multistate Legal Studies, Inc. appeals from a permanent injunction imposed by the district court against Legal Studies' use of the names PRELIMINARY MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION and PMBE to designate its test preparation service and the practice examination administered therein. The district court held that such use violated the unregistered trademark of the plaintiffs and counterdefendants-appellees, the National Conference of Bar Examiners and the Educational Testing Service in the MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION or MBE. In addition, Legal Studies appeals from the order of the district court dismissing its counterclaim which challenged the validity and constitutionality of the Copyright Office "secure test" regulation, 37 C.F.R. § 202.20, under which plaintiffs' MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION was registered. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the judgment order of the district court's dismissal of the counterclaim, 495 F.Supp. 34, but we reverse the order enjoining Legal Studies from using the name PRELIMINARY MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION and the initials PMBE.
The plaintiffs filed a two-count complaint on October 26, 1978 in the Northern District of Illinois. In Count I plaintiffs alleged that Legal Studies, in violation of the copyright laws of the United States, infringed their copyright in the MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION by copying from one or more editions of their copyrighted July 1977, February 1978, and July 1978 bar examinations. According to the plaintiffs, Legal Studies' illegal copying was indicated by its literature which claimed that the PRELIMINARY MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION contained reconstructed questions from the MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION. In Count II of the complaint plaintiffs alleged that Legal Studies engaged in unfair competition in violation of the trademark laws of the United States, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), and the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 121½, § 311-17, by falsely representing in its advertising and promotion that its examination was in some way connected with the plaintiffs or their product through use of the names PRELIMINARY MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION or PMBE and through its claim that the PMBE was an "official publication."
Legal Studies answered and counterclaimed in three counts. Subsequently, it moved for summary judgment on Count III of its counterclaim by which it sought a declaration that plaintiffs' copyrights were invalid on the ground that 37 C.F.R. §§ 202.20(b)(4) and (c)(2)(vi), which permits registration of secure tests by the deposit of identifying material in lieu of complete copies, exceeds the statutory authority of the Register of Copyrights and in the alternative, that 17 U.S.C. § 408(c), which authorizes the issuance of the secure test regulation, is unconstitutional for being in excess of power granted to Congress in art. I, § 8, cl. 8, of the United States Constitution.1
After Legal Studies filed an amended counterclaim joining Barbara Ringer, Register of Copyrights, as a party defendant, the district court issued an order on July 31, 1980 dismissing Count III of Legal Studies' amended counterclaim pursuant to motions to dismiss filed by the plaintiffs and the Register of Copyrights. The district court held that the plaintiffs' copyrights were valid and concluded that section 408(c)(1) was sufficiently broad to accommodate the regulation that was adopted by the Register for secure tests.2 The court found that, contrary to Legal Studies' assertion, no conflict existed between the regulation and 17 U.S.C. § 704(d), which provides that in the case of unpublished works a reproduction of the entire deposit must be made a part of Copyright Office records. The court took the view that when read in conjunction with section 408(c)(1), the term "entire deposit" in section 704(d) refers to the excised copies rather than a complete copy of the test as maintained by Legal Studies.3 The court found no merit in Legal Studies' assertion that the failure to register a complete deposit for copyright purposes is contrary to the public interest as implied in the Constitution, citing Washingtonian Publishing Co. v. Pearson, 306 U.S. 30, 41-42, 59 S.Ct. 397, 402-403, 83 L.Ed. 470 (1939).
Legal Studies seeks, among other things, a declaration that the Copyright Office regulation which governs the deposit requirements for secure tests — 37 C.F.R. § 202.20(c)(2)(vi) — is inconsistent with the Copyright Act of 1976, or, alternatively, that section 408(c)(1) of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C., which empowers the Copyright Office to promulgate the secure test regulation, is unconstitutional. Legal Studies also seeks a cancellation of plaintiffs' copyright registration of the MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION obtained in accordance with the challenged regulation.
The plaintiffs deny that Altvater has any bearing on the present case. They suggest that Legal Studies' liability would be the same even without valid copyright registration of the MBE to support their position; plaintiffs refer to the language in 17 U.S.C. § 408(a) stating that registration is not a condition of copyright protection. The plaintiffs, however, overlook the provisions of 17 U.S.C. § 411 which in relevant part provides: "No action for infringement of a copyright in any work shall be instituted until registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title." We believe that Legal Studies has a reasonable apprehension of liability for copyright infringement under the circumstances and that consequently the controversy is not moot. See Tubeco, Inc. v. Crippen Pipe Fabrications, Inc., 402 F.Supp. 838 (E.D.N.Y.1975), aff'd, 538 F.2d 314 (2d Cir. 1976).
Turning to the merits, Legal Studies first contends that the provision of the secure test regulation, 37 C.F.R. § 202.20(c)(2)(vi), requiring the Copyright Office to return the deposit of the secure test and retain only such portions, description, or the like so as to constitute a sufficient archival record of the deposit, is patently inconsistent with the requirements of section 704(d) of the Act. Legal Studies argues that the entire deposit of an unpublished work must be retained during the copyright life. The argument is based upon its interpretation of the words "entire deposit" appearing in section 704(d) to mean a complete copy. In support of this interpretation Legal Studies points to language in section 408(b) providing that the material deposited for registration shall include: "(1) in the case of unpublished works, one complete copy or phonorecord ...." This interpretation, however, ignores the important proviso that precedes subsection (1) at the beginning of subsection (b): "Except as provided by subsection (c), the material deposited for registration shall include — ... (1)" Subsection (c), governing "Administrative Classification and Optional Deposit," provides in relevant part:
Section 704(d) must be read, however, in conjunction with 17 U.S.C. § 408(c)(1). Section 408(c)(1) permits the deposit of "identifying material instead of copies." Therefore, the term "entire deposit" which appears in § 704(d) must refer to the excised copies. Otherwise the two sections, which were enacted at the same time, would be inconsistent with each other, thereby violating another fundamental rule of statutory construction.
Legal Studies also challenges the validity of the secure test regulation upon constitutional grounds. It argues that the regulation serves to conceal the deposited material from public view and thus defeats the purpose of copyright registration as mandated by art. I, § 8, cl. 8, of the United States Constitution, which empowers Congress to "[p]romote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors exclusive rights to their respective writings and discoveries." Legal Studies bases this argument on the idea that actual copies are necessary to provide a public record that delineates the scope of the copyright monopoly.
Id. at 38-39, 59 S.Ct. at 401-402. Of course, only the majority decision is legal precedent, and the recognition that the deposit and registration requirements under the Act were procedural only and not constitutional prerequisites for a copyright has been carried forward in the current statute by 17 U.S.C. §§ 408(a) and 411(a). Those provisions make clear that registration is not a condition of copyright protection. It follows that deposit regulations do not amount to disclosure requirements; nor as a practical matter can they function as such since a claimant may register any time prior to bringing suit on an infringement claim.
Nimmer on Copyright, § 7.17[a] (1981). By analogy, in the case of unpublished works, the copyright function is attenuated as previously noted by the fact that the Register of Copyrights under section 704(d) is required to preserve only a facsimile copy of "all or any part" of a section 408 deposit, which may itself consist of only identifying materials. Thus whether the work is published or unpublished, the Copyright Act when viewed as a whole negates the notion that deposit requirements are for the purpose of delineating the scope of a copyright through public disclosure. For the foregoing reasons we conclude that the district court correctly held plaintiffs' copyright valid and we affirm the judgment order dismissing Legal Studies' counterclaims.
Following a trial on plaintiffs' claim of unfair competition, the district court determined that plaintiffs had a legally protectable right in the names "MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION" and "MBE" and granted injunctive relief. Initially, the court found plaintiffs' trade name is neither generic nor commonly used to describe its bar examination. The court then found the name to be "merely descriptive" of a characteristic or quality of plaintiffs' test; further, because of long and extensive use, the name, has acquired a distinctiveness and a secondary meaning; and, finally, there is a likelihood of confusion between Legal Studies' PRELIMINARY MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION and plaintiffs' MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION. The court concluded Legal Studies' use of the name for its service constituted unfair competition and a violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a).
A generic term is one that refers, or has come to be understood as referring, to the genus of which the particular product is a species. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. v. Hunting World, Inc., 537 F.2d 4 (2d Cir.1976). A corollary verbal formulation of the meaning underlying the word "generic" is the phrase "the common descriptive name" as a designation for a product. Neither designation affords trademark protection. This is true even though the name acquires a secondary meaning, that is, the product has become identified with a particular producer. For example, in J. Kohnstam, Ltd. v. Louis Marx & Co., 280 F.2d 437 (Cust. & Pat.App. 1960), the producer claimed that through the advertising of its product over a period of two and one-half years, a secondary meaning became attached to the product. The Court of Customs and Patent Appeals disagreed and held that: "But such a circumstance cannot take the common descriptive name of an article out of the public domain and give the temporary exclusive user of it exclusive rights to it no matter how much money or effort it pours into promoting the sale of the merchandise." (emphasis in text.) 280 F.2d at 440. Indeed, under a provision in the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1064, a registered trademark may be cancelled if at any time it "becomes the common descriptive name of an article or substance."10
We are of the view that the word "multistate" describes the geographic area over which the test is administered. It informs as to a certain feature of the bar examination — that it is suitable for use in more than one state. Thus, "multistate" is a geographically descriptive word. See, e.g., U.S. Blind Stitch Machine Corp. v. Union Special Machine, 287 F.Supp. 468 (S.D.N.Y.1968) ("U.S." held to be a geographically descriptive term); National Auto Club v. National Auto Club, Inc., 365 F.Supp. 879 (S.D.N.Y.1973), aff'd, 502 F.2d 1162 (2d Cir.1974) ("`National' is a geographic term descriptive in nature since it pertains to a feature of the service such as the purpose or function."). See generally J. Gilson, Trademark Protection and Practice, § 2.07, n. 6 (1979).
FootNotes * The Honorable Ronald N. Davies, United States Senior District Judge of the District of North Dakota, is sitting by designation.
1. 37 C.F.R. § 202.20 prescribes rules pertaining to the deposit of copies and phonorecords for copyright registration which in relevant part provide:
2. 17 U.S.C. § 408(c) provides:
3. The judgment, however, made clear that Legal Studies would be permitted to fairly inform the public that it offers a service to prepare applicants to take the MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION or MBE.
4. Legal Studies calls our attention to the fact that section 408(c)(1) uses the term "identifying material" to denote the optional deposit requirement, while the secure test regulation uses the term "sufficient archival record." According to Legal Studies, "The choice of terminology is significant; a `sufficient archival record' is not intended to identify. Instead it is intended to hide from public view and thereby to defeat the purpose of copyright deposits." Reserving for now the question of the underlying purpose of copyright deposit, the record indicates that the examining corps of the Copyright Office treated the terms "sufficient archival record" and "identifying material" as synonymous. Of course, an agency's interpretation of its own regulation is entitled to considerable weight.
5. The House Report states in relevant part:
6. Furthermore, we agree with the district judge's observation that to adopt Legal Studies' version of section 704(d) would make the Copyright Act unavailable for protecting a secure test, which result would contradict the presumption that acts of Congress are passed for beneficial purposes, not for their frustration. Thus we are inclined toward the conclusion that Congress intended the Copyright Act to afford protection to confidential creative material such as the secure tests, the beneficial purpose of which would be defeated by the deposit of a complete copy of each annual version.
7. Under the superseded 1909 Act, after a copyright had been secured by publication of the work with the notice of copyright as provided in section 9 of the Act, there should be "promptly deposited in the Copyright Office ... two complete copies of the best edition thereof then published ...."
8. We agree with the Register of Copyrights that the MBE would probably be classified as an unpublished work under 17 U.S.C. § 101 although publication vel non is immaterial since the secure test regulations are applicable and valid in either case.
9. Legal Studies attempts to shore up its argument that complete disclosure is required for copyright registration by pointing to dictum in Merrell v. Tice, 104 U.S. 557, 26 L.Ed. 854 (1882), a case decided under the Copyright Act of 1867, wherein the Supreme Court stated:
... the copyright books deposited with [the Librarian of Congress] are quasi-records, kept in his custody for public examination, — one object no doubt being to enable other authors to inspect them in order to ascertain precisely what was the subject of copyright.
Legal Studies believes that Merrell, unlike Washingtonian Publishing is applicable because the 1867 Act under which Merrell was decided extended copyright protection to unpublished works, although Merrell actually involved published material. In any event, under the current regulation, 37 C.F.R. § 220.20, the secure test deposit does make it possible to ascertain the "subject" of the copyright — that a certain examination has been registered — thus satisfying the standard set forth in Merrell.
10. Webster's International Dictionary, 3d Edition, defines the word "common" as "of or relating to a community at large (as a family unit, social group, tribe, political organization, or alliance): generally shared or participated in by individuals of a community."
11. In its findings of fact and conclusions of law the district court stated that, "Defendant has failed to sustain its burden of showing the names Multistate Bar Examination and MBE are generic...."
12. The district judge stated: