Fred Butterfield & Co. v. Abraham & Straus, Inc.

Headnote

Trade marks — word “Normandy” cannot be exclusively appropriated as common-law trade mark.

Butterfield & Co. v. Abraham & Straus, 212 App. Div. 384 , affirmed.

Appeal from a judgment, entered April 7, 1925, upon an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, reversing a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon a decision of the court on trial at Special Term and directing a dismissal of the complaint. The action was to restrain the defendant from using the word “ Normandy ” as applied to voile fabrics and from selling fabrics as “ Normandy voile ” unless they were manufactured by the plaintiff. The trial court found for the plaintiff solely upon the ground that it had established a common-law trade mark in the word “ Normandy ” as applied to voiles. The Appellate Division held that by reason of its lack of inherent application to particular styles of goods exclusive in manufacture or description and because of its geographical nature, the word “ Normandy ” cannot be exclusively appropriated as a common-law trade mark.