Highway Cruisers of California, Inc., a California Corporation v. Security Industries, Inc., an Idaho Corporation

Many manufacturers of automobile trailers make what is called a camper. The appellant and appellee build them too. The camper is a compact temporary living unit which sits in the bed of a pickup truck. Particularly hunters and fishermen like to use them. When detached from the pickup truck, they have little use except perhaps as children’s playhouses. We have had these campers here on the question of applicability of federal excise taxes. United States v. King Trailer Company, Inc., 9 Cir., 350 F.2d 947 .

Highway Cruisers of California, Inc., markets its campers under the registered federal trademark of “Sports Cab.” Its label for most of the time at issue has read:

SPORTS CAB

By Highway Cruisers of California

Highway Cruisers (appellant) began in April, 1957, to sell its camper or demountable house trailer cabin under the foregoing label. A year and a half later, Security Industries (appellee) turned up with a camper in the market that looked like Highway’s and carried the label:

SPORTS CAB TRAVELER

In 1962, three years after the infringing began, Highway Cruisers sued Security Industries to stop the alleged in fringement on name and for an accounting. After a trial, the…