CORPORATIONS-WHERE NAME OF NEW CORPORATION IS THE EXISTING TRADE NAME OF ANOTHER

In 1928 plaintiff changed its official corporate name from the "City Fuel Company" to the "Staples Coal Company," but continued to utilize the old corporate name as a trade name in advertising and the retail sale of fuel oil. It made little, if any, use of the new title, since the general public was accustomed to dealing with it under the name it had used for seventeen years. Defendant was incorporated in 1943 as the "City Fuel Company" and began to engage in a similar business in the same general trade area of greater Boston. Plaintiff, fearing deception of the public and injury to its good will, brought a bill to enjoin defendant from using a corporate name identical with its trade name.

Held, injunction granted against the use of the name in any of the localities where the plaintiff does business. Equity will protect the public from being misled and the business of the plaintiff from being diverted. The corporate franchise issued by the state to the defendant does not preclude such relief. Staples Coal Co. v. City Fuel Co., (Mass.

1944) 55 N.E. (2d) 934.