Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won not tay ber own

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From Scarves By Vera, Inc. v. American Handbags, Inc., 188 F. Supp. 255 - US: Dist. Court, SD New York 1960

Relying on the fact that injunctive relief can be granted for a violation of a specific property right even though such violation is a crime, plaintiff has tried to show a property interest independent of 17 U.S.C. § 105. Plaintiff's argument is that when defendant purchases towels or linens embodying plaintiff's copyrighted marks and removes the copyright notice and utilizes said towels or linens in the manufacture of ladies' handbags which are sold to the public, the defendant is placing the copyrighted designs in the public domain, exposing them to use by the public and thereby destroying plaintiff's copyright. Plaintiff's argument falls short, however, because defendant by its actions [page 258] cannot place plaintiff's copyrighted designs in the public domain. In order for the designs to be placed in the public domain it must be shown that the copyrighted works left the plaintiff's possession without the required notice, and this burden is on the defendant. Gerlach-Barklow Co. v. Morris & Bendien, 2 Cir., 1927, 23 F.2d 159, 162; Peter Pan Fabrics, Inc. v. Martin Weiner Corp., 2 Cir., 1960, 274 F.2d 487. However, plaintiff has asked not only that defendant be enjoined from removing plaintiff's copyright notice but also that defendant be restrained from using plaintiff's towels or linens or plaintiff's name or plaintiff's Vera and Scarab or Ladybug trademarks in the sale of its handbags. As has been said above, on some of the handbags plaintiff's name and trademarks can be seen and plaintiff claims that this constitutes trademark infringement under 15 U.S.C.A. §§ 1114 and 1125. As was said in Prestonettes, Inc. v. Coty, 1924, 264 U.S. 359, 368, 44 S.Ct. 350, 351, 68 L.Ed. 731: "A trade-mark only gives the right to prohibit the use of it so far as to protect the owner's good will against the sale of another's product as his. * * * When the mark is used in a way that does not deceive the public we see no such sanctity in the word as to prevent its being used to tell the truth. It is not taboo." The question is thus whether an ordinary, intelligent purchaser, upon seeing the handbag, would be misled into the belief that plaintiff was in some way connected with its manufacture.