McLean v. Fleming’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

302 federal appellate · 126 district · 151 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 961 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “What degree of resemblance is necessary to constitute an infringement is incapable of exact definition, as applicable to all cases. All that courts of justice can do, in that regard, is to say that no trader can adopt a trade-mark so resembling that of another trader, as that ordinary purchasers, buying with ordinary caution are likely to be misled.”

   11 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Weyman v. Soderberg · Standard Oil Company v. Standard Oil Company

2. ““A court of equity will not interfere when ordinary attention by tbe purchaser of an article would enable him at once to discriminate one from the other.””

   11 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Paris Medicine Co. v. W. H. Hill Co. · G. Heileman Brewing Co. v. Independent Brewing Co.

3. ““If the form, marks, contents, words, or the special arrangement of the same, or the general appearance of the alleged infringer’s device, is such as will be likely to mislead one in the ordinary course of purchasing the goods, and induce him to suppose he was purchasing the genuine article, then the similitude is such as entitles the injured party to equitable protection.””

   6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Enoch Morgan's Sons Co. v. Whittier-Coburn Co. · Devlin v. McLeod