OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Hon. Tcm L. Beauuhamp
Searetary of State
Austin, Texas
Dear sir: Attention or Hr. Claude
0plnfon No. O-983
feet
on on the questions ea
are herein 8 by this offiw.
a8 follana:
Brown, doing
in San Antonio,
ed by ami1 to
7, this offioe wrote I&. Brown
cation was not in order for the
did not state how long the
been in we by him. The require-
e length of time a trademark has
:adepartmentalrequireinent and
haa been in eiYeat ia 'thfsDepartmentfor a
number of yeers. At the same time, we sdviaed
?Jr.Brown that we w&-e emlosing an application
r0m and that he aould rfii out the row in
lieu of the applicationwhioh we were returning
to him or he could oorreat his applicationSO
. . .
. .
Iion. Tom L. IIeauohamp, Pa.~e .2
as to show how ions he had been usinS the
trademark and/or trade name.
“On Yaroh 9, 1939, ws veoelved a
letter from Yerlon D. Johnson, advortlslw
agent of Dalrplend, Incorporated, of San
.wtonlo, Texas, advlslry: UC that she had
noticed 1.7 the ‘San Antonio LlSht’ OS ?‘oroh
4 thct ‘it. 1:. Brown Dairy had rlled wlth the
County Clerk of Bexar C unty a facsimile
of a proposed trademark and trade name and
thut it contained the phrase ‘The Brlrhtest
3,ar in the !‘llky ?laay(, that this phrase had
been copyAChted by Dairyland, Incorporated,
and that said Vademrk and trade name had
been filed in the CopyrlCht Cfflce of the
‘Federal Covernmcnt in “ashln+on, D. C.,
end that Dairyland, Incorporated had been
uoln~ the trade ncmo and trademark since
February 21, 1936, and attached to this
letter was a ollpplny, from u Fort ?:orth
newspaper puhlls::ed on February 21, 1936.
!.!arlon D. Johnson, on behalf of Dairyland,
Tacor?omted, protested ay,alnst this office
approving and flllnC the prOpOSed trade name
and trademark pre;enti:d by i7. K:. Brown !hlry.
“On Yaroh 9, 1939, vie advised !ferlon D.
Johnson thet our reoords did not show that
euch a trade wime or trademark using the
phrase ‘The &l&test Star In the E’llky ‘.‘!ay’
had been apeqoved and filed in this office.
“On !‘aroh 10, 1939, this office received
the appllcutlcn of Yelrylond, Incorporated
to have reClst.ored as ti trademrk ‘The Drl@t-
est Star in the T’llky Yay’, which application
lo attached hereto and zarked Zxhlblt ‘W and
Is attached to Exhibit *&*.
-On l’arch 13, 1939, the corrected appllce-
tlon 0r the :;. I:. Bxwn Pair? was received,
which appllcttlofi ic attacked hereto and rark-
cd Exhlblt ‘C’.
Hon. Tom L. Reauohamp,Page 3
With all these feats before this offioe.
It was deolded that Dairyland, Inoorporeted
had been using thls trade name and trademark
since Febru ry 81, 1956 and that V. K. Brown
Dairy had used it since the 2nd day of Karoh,
1939, or approximatelyten days beSore the date
we received their oorreated epplioatlonfor
registrationof the trademark. Believing that
the party having priority of use was entitled
to have prererenee in the registrationof the
trademark,we approved end filed on March 17,
1939, the epplioatlonor Dairyland, Inoorporated
and returned, refused, the application of a. B.
Brown Daily.
Tie desire that you edflse us upon the
follwing questions:
'(1) Under the above faots, did this
office err in epprow and filing the eppli-
oation ror registrationof the trademark *The.
BrightestStar in the Milky Way* by Dairyland,
Inoorpozated?
w(2) If you have answered .theabove queo-
tion *yes', then advise us if we are authortied
to oenoelthe regfstratlon'ofDairyland,ShpIMaE-
poreted."
hrtioles 844, &Q1 an4 331, Revised Civil Statutes
read as follwo:
UArt. 844. Any person, firm or aorpora-
tion engnged in the delrylng business, or in
the distributionor sale of mix?&requiring the
we of bottles,may file in th&orfioe of the
county clerk of the oounty in whioh it is
expected such person, fina or corporationwill
sell or distributemilk,,a fee~simile or de-
wription or the name or nmues, trade name*
mark or design used by,suah person, fina or
oorporationfor advertisingpurposes, and
aeuse such fee sfmile or deeerlption to be
published in a publlo newspaper published in
su& oounty for three sueeasaivsweeke, and
the act of filing and publioation ahall oper-
ate to secure to auoh de&pen, tilk dls-'
trlbutor or ,Bsilk
dealer, sole and eaolusive
right $9 use ,ln eaid oountt_or oquntiee, aaid
name or namee; btradS ~wne:aa~k or desiun.
~APt:847.,~ Any gez+& firi~or:ior$tia-
tion‘engagdd ln.t$e dui~~iag'bidnes8~oT. the
6ale or distrlbution'of tiilki.I$o'eheiI -h&a
filed with thb dounty'blerlt‘?of
.tlje
ooti+$ in -
nh-ioh theymiy be enti$ed .fn the dle,tr;ibtiiti
or stile ‘of ~~ilk,~ a U~UZI~‘q ~.nme,lj‘,trade ‘&me,
markor design ~a8 herein prtMdsd; m6’y~oatie~
to be-engraved, etched, bl,pwn in or impresrBd
OF ?>hemlee'prodiiced
upoq .the,Ifottlds
ouhql
by said porson,'flm or corporation su.oh WIQW
or numes; trade mm~e, n&k' 'or .ti~+iz, 'snd when
ouch mm 0.r names,.trade pame, mark or de8tin
lo .a@ impqsoaep -tipon a l5ottla~ such bottle
ishall'be prlma'facle the property of the per-
eon, ~.$.x-JIor qorportatiq whio.h, ray anpear ~upon
the rec~rd.~f.the dff%cp'i$.'$I$e ocqt .Q i&rk .
qf. s)rch. EorlqCy to ,y'$p .amptf .f$'pc ..paPs or
qanes +dq ,JWUE~, E*rk $+;desfgn :egtJei- a8 the
orlt$nal oqer qr h+nsfrqed, ‘a<‘hereli uro-
~‘li’idetj.~
'Art; '831, E9ery pcrhn; :j~~bbolti~l& o’r
<i.6f.t:oi%iCqgiexi; lnoorporat'dd ar,&n%,&r-
$o,rcited;. that has%eretofore or+liilFh&firter
ad6pt a-'b%el, traih tiark, deeign, device, im-
prlnt.or form OS advertiaemer$, ahall rxp3 tb-
8-0 ia the offi+ 0r the Seor&u*'ai Stat6 By
'leailni: bra- rab s@ile ooplea, with the Seore-
tary ot State, ,end said Seo_retarv ebell,r.et.urq,
to syop.person;'as.gobiB~Loq, .or\mioq.'~.:~IUn8
the. ?eme, onc.of.'8ald fat #&O.e~'.eop~es ,$Iong
with and attached to a"duiy'at~'~ed'cert'Li~obta -
of the‘~fllln(: of sme for nhiW Q'.shEill ye-
ceiye II flee of one..do i lar:. ,.sqqh c_er.??lrjcatf!~~
c$ f>lin$phaU in all,~.ul~s’ahd pr&ectiiona .
under this chapter be ‘sufficient proof of the
a$'option of such label, t.rede park, design,.de-
rice, i.mpHnt or fo?m .of advcrtlcecent:;',m4:of~
the right of sach ~erson;~s'adoiat~on.or. Woi'
to ud$pt-the. oaze. Yo laboli tr&Ce .r;ark, de-
8iq1, eevjce, lqrint'or tom0 .gf advbrti..?e&&iit
s-hall bo filed es eforesc.ld thfit W.uId mobab'bly
Roll. Tom L. Beauohamp, Page 5
be mletqkeh for 8 label, trade merk, design,
derlae, lmprlnt 0r rorm or adrertlaement al-
ready or reoord. No pewon, or aesoclatlon
ahall be permitted to register a8 a label,
trade n&k, doe@, derloe, imprint or r0m
or advertisement any emblem, deelgn or resem-
blame thereto that ha8 bceu adopted or ueed,
by any charitable, benevolent 07 rsliSlou8
society or assocletloa, without their 0oneent.e
In the case or Dlluoxth 18. Rake, 64 SH 2nd
829, it was held the right to the use of a trade name
belongs to tho porsoon that first appropriated the name.
33 quote fros the case of Russ vs. DW, 49
3W 2nd 905 a8 fOiiOU8:'
eyriorlty in adoption and use or tmde
name8 confer8 a euperfor right to the ~88
thereor, end, since appellee first ueed the
nane tbcretofore used by the oorporatlan,
she acquired a priority to the uee thereof
and the appellant could not, by the mre ftl-
lng Or such afildaVlt to 60 bU8lms8 under a
fiCtliiOU8 name defeats appellee'o right to
continue to use such tXe.nm8.e Aho Bee Tex.
Sur.) Vol. 41, peg0 3S3.
R8 quote iron. corpus rlurla, vol. 63, page8 337,
340 ad 470 a8 rOiiOW8:
VA trademrk is aoqulr4d by Pete adoption
and user a8 suoh, subjeot to 8UOh Well-sstabllahod
rule8 a8 to what nay be exolusloely approgrlated
as a trade.-&, and as to what manner of dce will
conetitute the mrk used a trademark. The mark
must be used in this couutry in order to acquire
a trader,ark,ln this country.
*The one who firat onploys a trademark in
oonheotion with a particular ulasa of Soode ao-
qulreo a prfor end cxclueive rleht to u8e it
In oonneotion with that olaas cb goods, not-
wlthatandin.9 the aubaoquent user first reelstera
the mark, end one not the orlSlnator or first
Hon. Tom L. Z3eauohamp, Page 6
user thereof le entltlcd only to the diatlnc-
tlve features added by him.
“Only the owner of a trademark has the
rlcht to reClster it and the tradenark, trade
naxe , symbol or de4ts.n deslgnatlnC ownership
of a business may be rezlstered. Thou@ a
trade name nay bc reClstered, and exclusive
use thereby reserved under a statute authorlz-
lnC appropriation for use as a trademark,
any form, symbcl cr nsmo to 6eslCnute the
ori& or ov.ner thereof.’
Iu the case of Amour &. Company ye. Loulsrllle
Provlslon Cor:pany, 283 Fed. 42, and a long list of oases
c%ed therein the courts have held that registration does
not oreate a trademark, nor 1s it at all essential to its
validity.
In the case ot Co&kran, 1911 & Company vs. A. 3.
KuhlersnnConpany, 13G b’d. 525, the court held to entitle
plaintiff the use of trcdemark, or to protect plalntlii
and ltn mark aCalnst lnfrllly,ement, it was not necesrary
that the trademark should have been registered by plaln-
tisi.
In the oase of CrqU Atlantic t. Pacific Tea
canp05y’ VS. A. e F. hai Store, 20 F. Supp. 703, it wa8
held that a title to a trademark 1s independent of its
reClstretlon. se
In%%% the torecoinf: authorities, you are
respectfully aavlnea that it 1s the opinion OS this de-
partment that zour first question should be answered in
the necatlve. Therefore, it 1s not necessary to answer
your second question.
?rustlnC thst the fore.TolnC answers your lnqulry,
we are
Very truly yours
APp~O~~Jm 23, 1939
tide11 Wllll~
Assistant