Chattanooga Medicine Co. v. Thedford
Opinion of the Court
The case made by the bill, amendments, answer of respondents, and evidence in the cause is substantially that the complainant, the Chattanooga Medicine Company, a cor
“I hereby transfer and convey to said Z. E. Patton all and every of my rights, title, and interest whatsoever, that I have been and am or may hereafter become possessed of, in the right to manufacture, make, advertise, and sell the said Simmons’ Liver Medicine; and I hereby hind myself not to engage in ihe business of manufacturing or selling the said medicine under any name or style, or to become interested in the manufacture through any other Xierson whatsoever, except that I should become the owner of any part or interest sold to Smith, McKnight, or Patton in the manufacture or sale of said medicine, under the firm name and style of M. A. Thedford & Co. * * * "
In 1879 the complainant company succeeded to the right of Smith, McKnight, and Patton, and has ever since been engaged in manufacturing. advertising, and selling the medicine. The defendants in their answer say that they have formed a partnership under the firm name of M. A. Thedford Medicine Company, and that they have
Upon the face of it, it would seem to be a clear attempt upon the part of defendants to use and avail themselves of the same.thing that M. A. Thedford sold first, two-thirds of it to Smith and McKnight, and afterwards the other third to Z. E. Patton, November 22, 1876. These sales, in terms, indicate a clear purpose on the part of Thedford to go out of the business, and to give his successors in interest a clear field, not only to the right to manufacture, advertise, and sell Simmons’ Liver Medicine, but to the exclusive use of the name “Thedford & Co.” in the carrying on of their business. In the very nature of things, such a business as the defendants propose, with the means of advertising they are using, must operate an infringement upon the right of the plaintiff.
There is this suggestion: That the language used in the transfer to° Patton is limited to the making and selling of Simmons’ Liver Medicine, calling it by that name, and that the use which the complainant company is authorized to make of the name of “M. A. Thedford & Co.” is likewise to be limited to the making, advertising, and selling of Simmons’ Liver Medicine, and' that afterwards the predecessors of the complainant company discontinued the use of the word “Simmons,” and called their medicine “M. A. Thedford & Co.’s Original and Only Genuine Liver Medicine, or Black Draught,” and that this change in the name and literature of the complainant company gave the defendant the right to do what he now claims. We think this view of the terms of the transfer is too narrow, and the evidence does not show that the complainant company abandoned the right to make Simmons’ Liver Medicine in one form or other, but it shows the contrary. The cause of this change may be found in the Zeiler suit, brought by a rival of the predecessor of the plaintiff company in the circuit court of the United States for the Eastern district of Tennessee, with the merits of which we have nothing to do here; but it is in the record, and perhaps furnishes a reason for the change which was made in the name of the medicine which the plaintiff company was engaged in manufacturing and selling; but it is not clear here that change could inure to the benefit of the defendants, in the absence -of proof showing an abandonment by the complainant company of the right to make and sell Simmons’ Liver Medicine. We do not deem it necessary to enter into any inquiry as to the ingredients of Simmons’ Liver Medicine, or what his formula actually was, if he had any, or how the complainant’s medicine called “M. A. Thedford & Company’s Original and Only Genuine Liver Medicine, or Black Draught,” differed, if at all, from Simmons’ Liver Medicine, or whether either of the medi
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CHATTANOOGA MEDICINE CO. v. THEDFORD
- Status
- Published