Opinion ID: 1481540
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: As to the Trade-Mark.

Text: The word Nervine is a descriptive word, meaning a nerve tonic, or a remedy for disorders of the nerves. The court will take judicial notice that it has been in use for more than a century and a half. It is a part of the public heritage. Being a descriptive word, it cannot be appropriated as a trade-mark at common law, either alone or in combination with the word Samaritan. Standard Paint Co. v. Trinidad Asphalt Co., 220 U. S. 446, 31 S. Ct. 456, 55 L. Ed. 536; Warner & Co. v. Lilly & Co., 265 U. S. 526, 44 S. Ct. 615, 68 L. Ed. 1161; Brennan v. Emery-Bird-Thayer, etc., Co., 108 F. 624 (C. C. A. 8); Computing Scale Co. v. Standard Co. (C. C. A.) 118 F. 965. Nor can it be registered under the federal statute relating to trademarks, unless it meets the requirement of the fourth proviso of section 5 (b) of the Act of February 20, 1905 (33 Stat. 724 [Comp. St. § 9490]). Thaddeus Davids Co. v. Davids, 233 U. S. 461, 470, 34 S. Ct. 648, 58 L. Ed. 1046, Ann. Cas. 1915B, 322; Planten v. Gedney (C. C. A.) 224 F. 382, 385; Henderson v. Peter Henderson & Co. (C. C. A.) 9 F. (2d) 787; Pulitzer Pub. Co. v. Houston Printing Co. (C. C. A.) 11 F.(2d) 834. No registration under that act is alleged by the bill in the case at bar. The registration of the trade-mark set forth in the bill gave plaintiff no rights in the words Nervine or Samaritan Nervine as a trade-mark, for two reasons: First, because the trade-mark, registered did not contain either of the words. The trade-mark registered consisted solely of a picture of a man falling in an epileptic fit; his hat and cane dropping to the ground. This is apparent, both from the exhibit attached to the complaint and also from the opinion of the court in Richmond Nervine Co. v. Richmond, 159 U. S. 293, 16 S. Ct. 30, 40 L. Ed. 155. Second, the act of Congress under which the registration was made (Act July 8, 1870 [16 Stat. 198]) was unconstitutional. Trade-Mark Cases, 100 U. S. 82, 25 L. Ed. 550. The allegations of the bill were therefore legally insufficient to show that plaintiff had a trade-mark in the word Nervine, or in the words Samaritan Nervine. It follows from the foregoing that no cause of action was stated for the infringement of a trade-mark.