Knocking Down the Pole

In the complex field of patents, everyday products have often inspired memorable decisions. The shredded-wheat biscuit became a courtroom cause celebre in 1938, when the Supreme Court set precedent by ruling that Kellogg could make the same biscuit as Nabisco, whose patent had expired and whose link to the shredded-wheat name had faded. The pink color of Pepto-Bismol was at issue in 1959, when a federal court in New York ruled that the pink had a "functional" purpose and therefore could be copied. Last week the Supreme Court handed down a decision of such broad impact that it overturned unfair-competition doctrines in all 50 states and set a precedent that will affect U.S. industry for years to come. The subject of the dispute was a pole lamp, one of those floor-to-ceiling devices that adorn the modern home.

The Supreme Court's unanimous ruling was based on a conflict between Sears, Roebuck and Chicago's Stiffel Co., the originator of the pole lamp. Stiff el's sales sagged after Sears, in 1957, brought out an identical pole lamp that sold for about half the price; the company took the matter to court. A federal court found Sears guilty of unfair competition, not because of a patent infringement but under an Illinois common law that forbids exact copying of another's goods. In fact, ruled the court, Stiffel's pole lamp was not really unique enough to be protected by patent at all; it then invalidated Stiffel's patent.

The Supreme Court went a step farther. It affirmed the lower court's in validation of Stiffel's patent, but ruled that Sears was erroneously blamed for unfair competition. Its reasoning: once the patent on a product no longer exists, anyone has the right to make an exact copy--and should not be restrained from doing so by state unfair-competition laws. The court thus overruled all the states' protective laws, except against outright fraud, and declared open season on any products not protected by patents or trade names. Consumer groups hailed the ruling as heralding lower prices, but manufacturers were not so ecstatic. They fear that the ruling will mean a return to fierce competition, believe that companies will be less likely to work on new and original designs if they can be copied as soon as they hit the market.

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