Connell v. Reed

This is a bill in equity to restrain the defendants from infringing upon an exclusive right claimed by the plaintiffs in the words “East Indian,” used together with the word “ remedy ” or “ remedies,” as a trade-mark upon bottles of medicine.

Although the master reports that there was no evidence that any other person than the plaintiffs or their agents had ever used these words in connection with the manufacture and sale of medicines, it is at least doubtful whether words in common use as designating a vast region of country and its products can be appropriated by any one as his exclusive…