Court Opinion

ID: 9443102
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 19:11:12.848914+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:29:22.559873
License: Public Domain

CLARK, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
The opinion herewith appears to go on grounds of both substance and procedure. If, and as, it is a ruling that the rather drastic remedy — under the circumstances here — of an injunction should issue only upon more “live” testimony than is here, I should be di-posed to go along, provided a speedy hearing was directed and adequate safeguards were required meanwhile to hold the matter in statu quo. For it must be borne in mind that the evidence, whatever it was, stood unchallenged on the issue here crucial1 except for our own.judicial notice of the subject of cutlery and it was sufficient to convince an experienced and cautious trial judge. It should not therefore be disregarded while we are searching for a more complete case — particularly when we are faced with the deliberate copying of a widely advertised product, to sell a depreciated article at half price. The absence, however, of any suggestions for *422such interim safeguards,2 the substitution of upper for lower court findings, and the. objections to any possibility of distinctive design in cutlery, indeed the strong skepticism expressed as to any secondary meaning notwithstanding the record, force me to conclude that no “likelihood of confusion” —the governing requirement — will ever be accepted as possible unless a strong showing of actual confusion from the persons confused is made. That means that even the rawest copying will not he actionable. And that is new law, as the cases cited in the opinion show.
I wish I could be as certain as my brethren that a green light to “free-riders” is of the essence of a competitive society and that we have a duty to carry out this high public policy. But, as my opinions show, I am bothered by troublesome doubts. Much of modern advertising offends my sensibilities; on the other hand I cannot develop enthusiasm for the manufacturer who would rely on the advertising of others to market a poorer product, even at lesser price. Placed in such dilemma, I would like to yield my views of public policy to those closer to both producers and consumers than I. I have thought to see such possible definitive instruction in the Lanham Trade-Mark Act of 1946, in its emphasis upon remedies against use of copies of trade-marked articles “likely to cause confusion or mistake,” 15 U.S.C.A. § 1114, or use as to “any goods or services * * * a false designation of origin, or any false description or representation,” 15 U.S.C.A. § 1125(a), or even more broadly “effective protection against unfair competition.” 15 U.S.C.A. §§ 1126(h, i), 1127.3 See, e. g., my discussions in Dad’s Root Beer Co. v. Doc’s Beverages, Inc., 2 Cir., 193 F.2d 77, and S. C. Johnson & Son v. Johnson, 2 Cir., 175 F.2d 176, certiorari denied 338 U.S. ;860, 70 S.Ct 103, 94 L.Ed. 527. One does not need to discover an exact remedy for this plaintiff in that Act (though compare discussion of 15 U.S.C.A. § 1126 in the Root Beer case) to conclude that the congressional policy there disclosed is other than that represented in the substantive aspects of the decision herewith.

. That of secondary meaning and consumer-confusion. The opinion is in error in stating that the two illustrative letters which are quoted were the only significant evidence of consumer-confusion. More important was the affidavit of Hussey, president of R. P. Hussey Associates, for forty years a manufacturers’ representative, that customers, department store buyers, and others interested in plaintiff’s line wore inquiring as to this 55-per-cent-cheaper product and jobbers were holding off from placing further orders. Doubtless Hussey should be subjected to cross-examination, but his statement should not be either ignored or limited as in the opinion. Of some importance, too, is the affidavit of the expert pointing out in detail the several items of surface resemblance, but inner differences of quality, between the competing knives.

. In granting a stay pending appeal, first a single judge and then this court attempted to set such safeguards. Whether or not the attempts were successful, it is significant that these are now completely repudiated.

. While the last sections cited' have' not yet received definite interpretation,, the’ first two admittedly broaden- a plaintifii’s’ rights of protection! against unfair trade;.