526 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



by designing them or by absorbing another company which owned 

 them. A well-known brand has a value in itself and sometimes is 

 a very important asset. A company will sometimes market a con- 

 siderable part of its product in one section, and here, where the 

 consumer has become familiar with the brand and pleased with the 

 contents of the can, he will ask for and accept no other, despite the 

 fact that the latter might be, and probably is, the equal of the product 

 he has been using. 



For many years but few salmon canners appreciated the value of a 

 can label, and it has taken some bitter experiences to drive home to 

 the rest that a properly designed label placed upon good goods and 

 the owner protected in its use by the law has real value, just as much 

 as boats, nets, buildings, machinery, or the thousand and one material 

 things required to carry on the business. 



A free trade definition of a label would be that it is an artistic 

 representation or intellectual production, stamped directly upon an 

 article of manufacture, or upon a slip or piece of paper or other 

 material, to be attached in any manner to manufactured articles, to 

 bottles, boxes, and packages containing them, to indicate the contents 

 of the package, the name of the manufacturer, or the place of manu- 

 facture, the quality and quantity of the goods, directions for use, etc. 



Labels are subject to the copyright law and should be registered 

 before use or publication. If not registered, there is no protection 

 in law against infringement. The continued use of a label, however, 

 will give the person so using a certain proprietary right in it, which 

 can be enforced in a court of equity and may be defended by injunc- 

 tions, which will generally be granted. Such proceedings are expen- 

 sive, annoying to a busy man, and at best wUl protect one only after 

 at least a certain amount of damage has been done, and it is far safer 

 to avoid this by registering the label at the time of issue, which will 

 give one the further advantage in that a description of the character 

 and quality of the article labeled can be set forth, which will, to a 

 certain extent at least, be protected with the label. 



The commercial value of a label and name is represented by the 

 more or less general demand for the goods protected by it. In the 

 canned-salmon industry, as in that of other food-packing industries, 

 certain labels, through the good quality of the goods marketed under 

 them and the publicity created for them, have become of very con- 

 siderable value to the owners. A case in point is the label Royal 

 Crown, owned by the late R. D. Hume. This was one of the earliest 

 brands marketed in England, and some years later a certain Liver- 

 pool firm of salmon handlers paid Mr. Hume the sum of -110,000 for 

 the exclusive right to its use in England. 



In designing a label there are several things which should be borne 

 in mind. It should bear an easily remembered name and design; a 

 name difficult of pronunciation should be avoided at all costs. For 

 many years glaring red labels have been popular, but the success met 

 with by those using more subdued and artistic designs and coloring 

 indicates that the public appreciate them more than they do the 

 older and coarser types. The design should be as simple as possible, 

 as experience has demonstrated that a simple form — so simple that 

 it can be fully understood by a mere glance — will gain by regular 

 repetition, while a more complicated design will lose in this process. 



A good many now in the business still remember the small label 

 that was used on salmon cans before 1870. Labels about 3 by 5 



