Powell v. Valentine

Citations

• 106 Kan. 645
• 189 P. 163
• 1920 Kan. LEXIS 623

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>I. Trade Name — Name of Newspaper — Infringement—Injunction The owner of a newspaper who suspended its publication and merged it with that of another publisher, but who continued to maintain an office for the transaction of the unfinished business of the suspended paper and for the care of the business which he had built up in connection with his newspaper, and who continued to transact such business in its name, may enjoin a subsequent, rival publisher from using the name of the suspended newspaper, or a name so nearly similar to it as to be likely to confuse or mislead the patrons of the first publication, or to divert to the subsequent publisher the business patronage which the first publisher had built up through the successful publication of his newspaper in that locality for a considerable time.</p> <p>2. Same — Injunction Not Premature. Where actual damage through unfair trade practices is imminent or highly probable, the injured party is not ordinarily required to wait until he has actually suffered such damage. He may seek, at once, to forestall and prevent such damage by the aid of a court of equity.</p> <p>3. Same — Facts Show Infringement on Trade Name of Netospaper. One of the plaintiffs for several years owned and published in Coffeyville a newspaper commonly known as the “Sun,” although its formal title was “The Coffeyville, Kan. Sun.” He formed a partnership with another Coffeyville publisher who owned a paper called the “Journal.” The partners merged their papers, continued the publication of the “Journal,” and suspended the publication of the “Sun”; but its former proprietor continued to maintain an office for the transaction of its accruing and continuing business. Soon after the merger, a third publisher, who had theretofore published a free paper in Coffeyville, called “The Earth,” began the publication of a new paper formally entitled, “The Morning Sun and the Daily Earth,” but which, by the style and the arrang