Mws Wire Industries, Inc., and Cross-Appellee v. California Fine Wire Co., Inc., and Cross-Appellant

On November 16, 1982, the United States Patent and Trademark Office entered the mark “MULTIFILAR” on its Principal Register, specifying that the mark was used in connection with “magnet wire.” MULTIFILAR was registered in the name of plaintiff MWS Wire Industries and was assigned Registration Number 1,216,494. In June 1983, Wire Journal International published an article authored by George L. Stewart, sales manager for defendant California Fine Wire Company in which the term “multifiler” appeared. By letter dated July 1, 1983, Michael D. Harris, counsel for MWS (1) advised CFW that MWS was the registered owner of the trademark MULTIFILAR, (2) asserted that Stewart’s use of the term infringed MWS’s trademark, and (3) demanded that CFW, in writing, (a) acknowledge the validity of MWS’s trademark, and (b) promise to make no further use of MULTIFILAR or any other word likely to be confused with it. In return, MWS would agree to “waive any past damages for trademark infringement.” On July 15, 1983, CFW president Michael A. Greenelsh wrote to Robert H. Mott, counsel for CFW, enclosing Harris’s letter. Greenelsh indicated that CFW seemed to have infringed MWS’s trademark, but had done so…