Case Name: Henry W. St. John et al., Copartners under the Firm Name of St. John Bros. Co., Appellants, v. Elias Reiss, Doing Business under the Name of Elias Reiss & Company, Respondent
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1918-01-08
Citations: 222 N.Y. 631
Docket Number: 
Parties: Henry W. St. John et al., Copartners under the Firm Name of St. John Bros. Co., Appellants, v. Elias Reiss, Doing Business under the Name of Elias Reiss & Company, Respondent.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York Reports
Volume: 222
Pages: 631–631

Head Matter:
Henry W. St. John et al., Copartners under the Firm Name of St. John Bros. Co., Appellants, v. Elias Reiss, Doing Business under the Name of Elias Reiss & Company, Respondent.
St. John v. Reiss, 169 App. Div. 935, affirmed.
(Argued December 19, 1917;
decided January 8, 1918.)
Appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered July 16, 1915, unanimously affirming a judgment in favor of defendant entered upon a decision of the court on trial at Special Term. The theory of the action was that prior to June of 1912 plaintiffs and defendant were copartners and that at or about that time the defendant sold the good will of the copartnership business to these plaintiffs, but that notwithstanding such sale, the defendant has since engaged in the same business and sought to utilize the good will for his own purpose. The defendant in his answer denied that he had been a copartner of the plaintiffs, denied that he ever sold the good will of the business to the plaintiffs, and contended that on the contrary he had affirmatively reserved the right to enter into a competing business with the plaintiffs; and that he has conducted such business in a clean, upright manner, without any taint of unfair competition.
Gustav Lange, Jr., for appellants.
David L. Podell for respondent.

Opinion:
Judgment affirmed, with costs; no opinion.
Concur: Chase, Collin, Cuddeback, Cardozo, Pound and Andrews, JJ. Dissenting: Crane, J.