New York Court of Appeals

Thomas R. Ball, Appellant v. Broadway Bazaar, Respondent

March 2, 1909194 N.Y. 429

Summary

The Court affirmed the trial court's injunction restraining the defendant from using a confusingly similar trade name, but narrowed the injunction by striking the overbroad prohibition on the word “Lilliputian” alone. It held that trade names are protected by the same equitable principles as trademarks and that descriptive words alone cannot be monopolized.