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''Kellogg Co. v. National Biscuit Co.'', 305 U.S. 111 (1938), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that the Kellogg Company was not violating any trademark or unfair competition laws when it manufactured its own Shredded Wheat breakfast cereal, which had originally been invented by the National Biscuit Company (later called Nabisco). Kellogg's version of the product was of an essentially identical shape, and was also marketed as "Shredded Wheat"; but Nabisco's patents had expired, and its trademark application for the term "Shredded Wheat" had been turned down as a descriptive, non-trademarkable term. The Court therefore "forcefully applied the principle that once a patent has expired, its benefits are to be freely enjoyed by the public."〔David W. Carstens, (''Preemption of Direct Molding Statutes: Bonito Boats v. Thunder Craft Boats'' ), 3 170 (1990).〕 ''Kellogg'' has been called possibly "the Supreme Court's most versatile and influential trademark decision".〔Graeme B. Dinwoodie, "(The Story of KELLOGG CO. v. NATIONAL BISCUIT CO.: Breakfast with Brandeis )", p. 1, Retrieved on 15 December 2008.〕 It had a direct impact on the structure of the Lanham Act and is a "routine starting point for analysis in trademark opinions in lower courts."〔 == Background == Inventor Henry Perky developed a shredded wheat machine and introduced the cereal in 1893; he was issued utility patents in 1895 on both the shredded wheat and on the machine. John Kellogg tasted a sample and commented that they were like "eating a whisk broom."〔Graeme B. Dinwoodie, "(The Story of KELLOGG CO. v. NATIONAL BISCUIT CO.: Breakfast with Brandeis )", p. 3, Retrieved on 15 December 2008.〕 Nevertheless, the cereal became successful, and Perky's company, the Shredded Wheat Company, continued to manufacture the product after he retired. The Kellogg Company started manufacturing shredded wheat cereal in 1912 after Perky's patents expired; after the Shredded Wheat Company objected, Kellogg stopped manufacturing their version in 1919. The nature of the settlement is not clear.〔Graeme B. Dinwoodie, "(The Story of KELLOGG CO. v. NATIONAL BISCUIT CO.: Breakfast with Brandeis )", p. 5, Retrieved on 15 December 2008.〕 In 1927, the Kellogg Company resumed manufacturing shredded wheat, prompting a lawsuit from the Shredded Wheat Company; the lawsuit was settled. In 1930, the Shredded Wheat Company was acquired by the National Biscuit Company (later Nabisco), which again sued Kellogg, both in Canada and in the United States, for unfair competition. Nabisco complained in its lawsuit about Kellogg's use of the term "Shredded Wheat"; the similarity of its cereal biscuits' shape to the Nabisco cereal biscuits; and Kellogg's use on the product box of a picture of two of the pillow-shaped cereal biscuits submerged in milk. The complaint about the picture was based on trademark law; the other two complaints were that Kellogg's was fraudulently trying to "pass off" its cereal as Nabisco's. Nabisco had previously failed in its attempt to register "Shredded Wheat" as a trademark, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had rejected the registration, as descriptive. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kellogg Co. v. National Biscuit Co.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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