Kotabs v. Kotex
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
50 F.2d 810 (1931)
- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
Kotex Co. (plaintiff) manufactured and sold sanitary pads sold under the brand name Kotex. Leading newspapers and periodicals would not permit Kotex Co. to advertise its product by plainly explaining how and why to use it, so Kotex Co. developed and implemented advertising campaigns based solely on its brand name. Its ads would include the name Kotex in some prominent way, such as on a box tucked under a nurse’s arm, and rely on the curiosity of consumers to ask their medical professionals about the product to learn how it was used. The campaign was very successful. A new company called Kotabs Inc. created a product called Kotabs, named by combining the words Kotex and tablet. Kotabs were pills developed to reduce menstrual pain. Kotex Co. sued Kotabs Inc. for trademark infringement, and Kotabs Inc. defended itself by arguing that Kotabs were in a different class of product than Kotex and therefore did not infringe on the Kotex mark. The trial court found that Kotex Co. had a valid trademark and that Kotabs Inc. had infringed the trademark. The court enjoined Kotabs Inc. from using the Kotex mark and the word Kotabs in marketing its products. Kotabs Inc. appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Woolley, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 790,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
