Eureka Williams Corp. v. McCorquodale

Appellee appropriated “Omatic,” the dominant feature of appellant’s widely advertised mark, and combined that suffix with the descriptive prefix “Hot” to form the compound trade-mark “Hotomatic,” under which he sells automatic gas-burning hot water heaters. The late Judge Hatfield branded procedure of that kind as illegal in the case of Bon Ami Co. v. McKes-son & Robbins, Inc., 93 F.2d 915, 916, 25 C.C.P.A., Patents, 826, where he pointed out:

“If all that a newcomer in the field need do in order to avoid the charge of confusing similarity is to select a word descriptive of his goods and…