Coca-Cola Co. v. Koke Co. of America

Citations

• 254 U.S. 143
• 41 S. Ct. 113
• 65 L. Ed. 189
• 1920 U.S. LEXIS 1177

Syllabus

<p>The.defense that the plaintiff’s trade-mark and advertisements convey fraudulent representations to the public affords but a narrow ground for refusing injunctive relief against an infringer who seeks to reap the advantages of the plaintiff’s good will; and the defense must be carefully scrutinized. P. 145.</p> <p>As respects this defense, the plaintiff’s position must be judged by the facts as they were when the suit was begun, not by the facts of a different condition and an earlier time. P. 147.</p> <p>Plaintiff’s beverage, widely sold under the name “Coca-Cola,” with a picture of coca leaves and cola nuts on the labels, and containing certain harmless, extractives from coca leaves and cola nuts, claimed to add flavor, with some caffein from the nuts and more superadded, originally contained also some cocaine derived from the coca leaves, and was once advertised as an “ideal nerve tonic and stimulant”; but long before this suit began, cocaine was eliminated, the article was advertised and sold as a beverage only, free from cocaine; and, for the public generally, the name came to signify the beverage itself, the plaintiff’s product, rather than its ingredients. Held, that the> continued use of the name with the picture was not a fraud depriving the plaintiff of the right to enjoin infringement and unfair competition in selling a like preparation under the name of “Koke”; but that the injunction should not restrain use of the name-“Dope,” a featureless word not specifically suggestive of “Coca-Cola” by similarity or in use, nor forbid manufacture and sale of the product, including the coloring matter. P. 145.</p> <p>255 Fed. Rep. 894, reversed.</p>