Polaroid Corp. v. Polarad Electronics Corp.

287 F.2d 492 (1961)

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Polaroid Corp. v. Polarad Electronics Corp.

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
287 F.2d 492 (1961)

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Facts

Polaroid Corporation (plaintiff) owned the trademark Polaroid and held 22 registrations thereof granted between 1936 and 1956. Polaroid sued Polarad Electronics Corporation (Polarad) (defendant), alleging that its use of the name Polarad infringed Polaroid’s trademarks and constituted unfair competition. At the time of the litigation, the bulk of Polaroid’s business was in optics and photography, including certain uses related to television. Polarad’s principal business was the sale of microwave generating, receiving, and measuring devices, as well as television-studio equipment. Polaroid learned of Polarad’s existence as early as 1945 but took no action until 1955, at which time it filed a notice of opposition to a trademark application Polarad had filed. Polarad filed counterclaims against Polaroid in the federal lawsuit, which Polaroid initiated in 1956, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The district court dismissed both parties’ claims, concluding that neither had made an adequate showing with respect to confusion and that both were guilty of laches. Both parties appealed, but Polarad withdrew its cross-appeal.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Friendly, J.)

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