Benioff

Defendants appeal from a judgment enjoining them from engaging in the fur business in the state of California under the name of Hudson Bay Fur Company, or any similar name, claiming that the judgment is erroneous “in so far as it prohibits the defendants from engaging in the fur business in Los Angeles’” under that name. The action is not based on the ground that plaintiffs have any trademark or exclusive right to the name, but is predicated on the common-law right to protection against unfair competition in trade.

The plaintiffs, who are husband and wife, have, since about June 1, 1915, conducted a fur business in San Francisco under the name of Hudson Bay Fur Company. They at first operated through a corporation and continued, as partners, under the same name after its voluntary dissolution March 15, 1918, the business at all times being under the exclusive management of plaintiff George Benioff. At the time the business was commenced no other person, firm, or corporation was transacting any business in the state of California under the name of Hudson Bay Fur Company, and their right to the use of the name is unquestioned.

The evidence shows, among other things, that from a…