April I, 1917.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



399 



JUDICIAL DECISIONS. 



FAuNLOP Rubber Co., Limited, v. Michelin Tyre Co., Limited. 

 ■'-^ This was a claim by the plaintiffs, who sought to recover 

 damages for alleged libel; also an injunction to restrain from 

 publication of the matter complained of. The defendants de- 

 nied pubHcation of libel, or that the publications referred to 

 plaintiffs and bore defamatory meaning or were capable of 

 malice. They plead privilege of the occasion and counter- 

 claimed for damages and alleged libel ; plaintiffs in reply denied 

 libelling the defendants. 



Plaintiffs complained that the Michelin company had attacked 

 their honesty and integrity in their advertisements which ap- 

 peared in the same newspapers and were designed to have a 

 greater effort upon readers by repetition. 



In their counterclaim the defendants stated that the plaintiffs 

 had advertised against them, attacking them as foreigners re- 

 sponsible for the sale of rubbish. 



After due deliberation the jury found for tlie plaintiffs on 

 the claim, with il.OOO damages, and for the defendants on the 

 counterclaim with i750 damages. ["The India-Ruhber Journal," 

 London, February 17 and 24, 1917. J 



Adamson v. Gilliland. This is a suit brought by the peti- 

 tioner for the infringement of a patent for a vulcanizing device. 



This device consists of two sheets of metal, between which, 

 when heated, the material is to be vulcanized. The upper side 

 of the upper of these sheets is shaped like a cap in which gaso- 

 Hne can be placed to heat it. 



Defendant admitted making and selling devices like the plain- 

 tiff's, but testified that he made them first. The plaintiff put his 

 invention on the market in November, 1911, and the defendant 

 did not put out his vulcanizer until February or March of the 

 following year ; but the defendant declared that on August 7, 

 1911, 12 days before the plaintiff made the drawing of his inven- 

 tion, he had had castings made that are identical with plaintiff's 

 device. The plaintiff's cup had pins projecting from the bottom 

 arranged in circles around a central one, which he declared 

 served to conduct the heat of the flame downward into the vul- 

 canizing plate and the combustible fluid. Defendant's original 

 castings showed a similar arrangement ; he explained that the 

 similarity was accidental ; that the pins were of no use and 

 that they were merely there to be used as a talking-point to 

 deceive the public. 



It was held that since plaintiff had made public his device, 

 while defendant had not, and there was no other channel of 

 information between the two, plaintiff must be regarded as the 

 originator of the device. In a previous suit by the plaintiff, 

 District Judge Geiger decreed for the plaintiff. The district 

 judge, after hearing and criticizing additional evidence, said 

 that the new testimony would not have changed Judge Geiger's 

 opinion. The circuit court of appeals, regarding the action of 

 the district judge as a yielding to the authority of the former 

 decision, reversed the decree upon the evidence as it stood in 

 jirint. [United States Supreme Court.] 



Leonard Hartung v. Ten Broeck Tyre Co., Inc., Louisville, 

 Kentucky. This w-as an appeal from the Circuit Court, Jefferson 

 County, Common Pleas Branch, Fourth Division, which decided 

 in favor of the defendant in the action for injuries by Leonard 

 Hartung against the Ten Broeck Tyre Co. Hartung declared 

 that a large counter weight on a lever which he operated be- 

 came detached, the lever flew up and struck him in the breast, 

 injuring him. It was held that there was not sufficient evidence 

 of negligence on the part of the defendant. Judgment was af- 

 firmed. [Southwestern Reporter, Vol. 190, page 677.] 



Eureka Fire Hose Co. v. Furry, City Treasurer, Van 



Buren, Arkansas. This was an appeal from the Circuit Court, 

 Crawford County; James Cochran, judge, which decreed for 

 defendant in the cancellation of warrant's action. After pur- 

 chasing hose from the appellant and issuing a warrant therefor, 

 the city. Van Buren, called in its warrants. 



Counsel for appellant contended that the special act attempt- 

 ing to raise Van Buren from a city of the second to a city of 

 the first class is void, and all proceedings by oflficers of Van 

 Buren as a city of the first class are void, including the call of 

 the city's warrants for cancellation and reissuance. 



It was judged that the officers were de facto officers acting 

 under color of an election and at a time when the special act 

 liad not been declared unconstitutional,, and their proceedings 

 were therefore valid. 



Judgment was affirmed. [Southwestern Reporter, Vol. 190, 

 page 1427.] 



Frey v. Marvel Auto Supply Co. Aspects of P.\tents. 

 United States Circuit Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, decided 

 that, even though every element of a patented combination cov- 

 ering a mechanical device be old, there may still be patentable 

 invention if, by the combination, a new and useful result be pro- 

 duced, or an old result in a new and materially better way. 

 [The Federal Reporter, Vol. 236, page 916.] 



TRADE-MAHK DECISIONS. 



.\mong recent trade-mark decisions of interest to the rubber 

 trade might be mentioned the following: 



It has been decided that the name "Horseshoe" as a trade- 

 mark for automobile tires, casings and tubes is not descriptive, 

 even if, as supposed, the tread of the tire bears projections in 

 the shape of a horseshoe. This decision further states that there 

 is no mechanical advantage arising from this feature of the tire 

 and the name is no more descriptive than the figures 4-11-44 

 would be if the projections were made in the form of these 

 figures. As to the tubes, the mark is certainly not descriptive 

 since the objection does not apply to them. 



The trade-mark is allowed of a design showing the picture of 

 a pneumatic tire within which is the head of a chauffeur, and 

 above it the head of a bulldog grasping in its mouth the letters 

 .'VLWASHOLD, in a peculiar form of lettering. It has been 

 decided that this word is not descriptive as applied to a material 

 for repairing tires. The other features overshadow the word 

 in any event, but this is more than a case of misspelling of a 

 descriptive word as the words themselves can only exist in con- 

 nection with the bulldog's head. 



In this connection it will he interesting to note that, according 

 to the "San Francisco Chronicle," the Secretary of State of 

 California has denied registration of a trade-mark to the Dam 

 Sine Puncture Proof Co. because the rnark for which applica- 

 tion for registration was made was considered profane and its 

 use, therefore, contrary to public policy. Not only this, but it 

 was pointed out to the applicant company that the words were 

 in any event descriptive of. the goods and hence not registrable. 



RUBBER INSPECTORS POSITION OPEN. 



The United States Civil Service Commission announces an 

 open competitive examination for inspector of rubber to fill a 

 vacancy in the Quartermaster's Corps, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 

 at $1,200 to $1,500 a year, and future vacancies requiring similar 

 qualifications. Examinations may be held at cities near the resi- 

 dence of applicants, certain cities in each State being named. 

 The date of examinations is April 18, and any men who desire 

 to apply should write at once for form 304 to the Civil Service 

 Commission, Washington, District of Columbia, stating that the 

 examination desired is for "Inspector of Rubber (male)." 



