A Treatise on the Law of Trade-marks and Analogous Subjects

A C A tickings, which are not so, and for that purpose, from resorting to any device, deceit, fraud, or misrepresentation whatever, by the use of any stamp, mark, label, or ticket, or otherwise. And that they be in like manner enjoined and restrained from in any manner using the letters A C A on goods, or on the wrappers or covering thereof.

[The foregoing forms of pleadings, &c., are not intended to furnish models for all the machinery of legal and equitable procedure. It must be obvious to even the specialist in trade-mark litigation that these forms merely supplement ordinary books of practice. He must have recourse to the latter in the majority of cases.]

THESE matters should not be implicitly relied on as precedents; for while it is true that the greater number of the cases are valid in law, having all the essential characteristics of lawful trademarks, as laid down in § 143 of this book, many of the remainder are fatally-defective, while not a few are extremely dubious.

It would be invidious to annotate each case, and thus possibly injure the claimant thereof by indicating its indefensible features. Each reader must scrutinize for himself. It cannot fail to be observed, that the majority of worthless, self-styled trade-marks were registered within the first few months after the passage of the statute. It took time, study, toil, on the part of the Office, to learn and apply the principles of the law appertaining to this rather novel branch of jurisprudence, each day bringing fresh verifications of the truth that there is no royal road to knowledge. Courts have erred, as well as have practitioners. For some time the Office, in the discharge of ministerial functions, was satisfied with the statement sworn to by the applicant, and registered on the faith thereof; but by-and-by the fact dawned upon the mind that an examination of a judicial nature was required by the Act. Thenceforth all applications were rejected which did not at least make out a primâ facie exclusive right to the symbol claimed, and which would not probably endure the test of litigation. It must be apparent to any one who will run an eye down the following list, that some words or devices filed cannot possibly be recognized as symbols of manufacture or commerce. Several heads have already fallen into the basket at the hands of

nature of re

the executioner of the law. Many other defective marks may be recast, and put into legal form by a proceeding in the issue. Mere registration does not create a trade-mark. not recognize nor protect any but legitimate offspring. children must be cast out.

The law will

The spurious

For full descriptions, inquirers are referred to the specifications and fac-similes, copies of which may be obtained from the Patent Office by any person upon payment of twenty-five cents each. The descriptions in this table must necessarily be very brief. The object has been to give only the essential word or other symbol. When a reader looks at the class column, he can then, by looking at the description, learn whether it is worth his while to send to the Patent Office for a printed specification and a copy of the mark.

In many of the earlier cases, the specifications referred to drawings thereto annexed, but did not describe the marks.

In such cases,

it is sometimes difficult to determine what is the essential symbol. This list is brought down to the latest day of registration before going to press. (See ADDENDUM.)