Case Name: SHAW-BARTON, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JOHN BAUMGARTH CO., Inc., Defendant-Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1963-01-03
Citations: 313 F.2d 167
Docket Number: No. 13697
Parties: SHAW-BARTON, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JOHN BAUMGARTH CO., Inc., Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 313
Pages: 167–170

Head Matter:
SHAW-BARTON, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JOHN BAUMGARTH CO., Inc., Defendant-Appellant.
No. 13697.
United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.
Jan. 3, 1963.
Rehearing Denied March 6, 1963.
Morris Spector, A. Bradley Eben, Irving H. Goldberg, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellant.
Frank J. Foley, Chicago, Ill., for appellee.
Before HASTINGS, Chief Judge, and SCHNACKENBERG and SWYGERT, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
SWYGERT, Circuit Judge.
This suit was instituted under the federal trademark statutes, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq, by plaintiff, Shaw-Barton, Inc, charging defendant, John Baumgarth Co, Inc, with infringement of plaintiff's registered trademark "Homemakers" as employed on calendars, and asking for an injunction and recovery of plaintiff's damages and defendant's profits resulting from the unlawful infringement.
The District Court found the trademark valid and infringed and decreed that an injunction should issue against defendant. The judgment provided for the recovery of all damages sustained by plaintiff including all profits realized by defendant from its infringing sales. From the judgment defendant appeals.
Plaintiff's trademark was registered on May 19, 1942. The calendar to which plaintiff has applied its trademark consists of twelve sheets, one for each month, each sheet having at its top a large, full-color picture. There is a space below each picture for the advertiser's name and message; below that are the calendar dates for the current month, with space adjoining each date for such notes as the user might wish to insert. On the back of each sheet are items of information that would be of particular interest to one whose occupation is household and family management.
Plaintiff began to sell its "Homemakers" calendars in 1941, but no notice that the mark was registered was printed on any calendar until several years after this suit was filed.
In 1948, defendant began selling calendars identical in format with plaintiff's. The sample calendars, which defendant distributed to its jobbers to be exhibited by the jobbers' salesmen when soliciting orders from prospective advertisers, bore in the sample ad space below the picture, this notation:
This homemakers calendar is a calendar out of the ordinary will be retained the full year and appreciated as a gift
The words "This homemakers calendar" were printed in type two and one-half times the height of the rest of the words. During the period 1949 to 1953, orders were obtained by the jobbers' salesmen by means of the samples bearing the word "Homemakers." These orders were sent to defendant who printed the appropriate advertiser's name in the ad space on each of the twelve sheets in place of the statement "This homemakers calendar, etc." The calendars were then shipped to the advertisers minus the word "Homemakers;" they did, however, carry the name "Modern home calendar." After 1954, defendant's calendar samples carried the further identification "Modern homemaker calendar" just below the name of the month.
The evidence clearly shows that defendant was informed of plaintiff's trademark claims at least as early as 1950, but continued to use the identifying markings described above. Plaintiff acknowledges that defendant has the right to copy the format of plaintiff's calendars and makes no claim of exclusive rights thereto.
The trial judge made no finding that the term "Homemakers" as applied to calendars had acquired a secondary meaning. In the absence of such a finding, we may assume that none existed. Wilhartz v. Turco Products, 164 F.2d 731 (7th Cir. 1947). There was no evidence of likelihood of confusion among the purchasing public. Though confusion may be inferred under certain circumstances, it is of little consequence if it results from the use of identifying marks that lie in the public domain and which have acquired no secondary meaning.
The question thus presented is the correctness of the District Court's determination that "[p]laintiff's trademark 'Homemakers' is a good and valid trademark. "
We hold that the word "Homemakers," when applied to calendars of the type involved in this suit, is a noun, descriptive of that class of individuals toward which the design and proposed use of the product is oriented; that the class is total in the sense that it is not effectively limited to less than the whole —which limitation would render it less descriptive and more of a fanciful designation, arbitrarily selected by the applicant (see Hamilton-Brown Shoe Co. v. Wolf Brothers & Co., 240 U.S. 251, 257, 36 S.Ct. 269, 60 L.Ed. 629 (1916)); that the mind readily and immediately recognizes the association between the product and the class of users (see Bonne Bell, Inc. v. Lanolin Plus Cosmetics, 202 F.2d 790, 40 CCPA 891 (1953)); and therefore, it is not capable of exclusive appropriation as a trademark in the absence of a showing that it has acquired a secondary meaning.
It is well established that where descriptive words are used, the presumption of validity attaching to a registered trademark may be easily overcome. John Morrell & Co. v. Reliable Packing Co., 295 F.2d 314 (7th Cir. 1961).
The fact that here we are confronted with a word that is descriptive of the class of users for which the product is primarily and particularly oriented, rather than a word that is descriptive of the inherent qualities or characteristics of the product itself, distinguishes those cases that deal with the latter category, e. g., Independent Nail & Pack. Co. v. Stronghold Screw Prod., 205 F.2d 921 (7th Cir. 1953); General Shoe Corp. v. Rosen, 111 F.2d 95 (4th Cir. 1940).
The controlling statute, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e), precludes registration of any mark that is descriptive "when applied to the goods" on which It is to be used. When the trademark, "Homemakers" (with or without a hyphen), is juxtaposed with the calendar in question, the mind readily and immediately assents to the association as being appropriate, and recognizes without reflection the identity of the group or class for whose use the product was intended. In this connection, it is enlightening to note that plaintiff also sells calendars entitled a "Catholic Church" calendar, a "Jewish Home" calendar, a "Protestant" calendar, and a "Lutheran Church" calendar. Plaintiff concedes that these names would not be subject to being trademarked. Though the word "carpenter," by itself, does not indicate any particular context in which we might use it, nevertheless, it must be apparent that,- in the absence of some secondary meaning, no one should be permitted to trademark the word in such forms as "carpenter's" ladders, "carpenter's" hammers, "carpenter's" saws, etc. We believe the word "Homemakers" as used on calendars of the type here in question falls in the same category, and hence it ought not be granted trademark protection.
The trial judge's finding that the word "Homemakers" is not descriptive is thus clearly erroneous. Accordingly, the judgment of the District Court is reversed.
. Websters Third New International Dictionary (unabridged, 1961), contains the following definition of homemaker: homemaker, n. 1: one that makes a home: one whose occupation is household and family management. •