## Facts

- California Fruit Growers Exchange (Exchange) was a California not-for-profit cooperative marketing association that sold citrus fruits throughout the United States and abroad under the federally registered trademark “Sunkist,” supported by large sales volume and extensive advertising expenditures.
- California Packing Corporation (Corporation) was a New York corporation that selected, prepared, packed, and sold canned and dried fruits and vegetables (including raisins) throughout the United States and abroad under the federally registered trademark “Sun-Kist.”
- Exchange and Corporation had a written agreement granting each other the right to use either trademark on their respective goods.
- Sunkist Baking Co. (Sunkist Baking) operated a bakery in and around Rock Island, Illinois, and sold bread and buns.
- Defendants’ bakery products were wrapped and sold in packaging bearing the name “Sunkist Baking Co.” and the words “Sunkist Bread.”
- Exchange and Corporation sued defendants for trademark infringement and unfair competition, alleging defendants’ use of “Sunkist” would cause purchasers to believe defendants’ baked goods were made, sponsored, or authorized by plaintiffs.
- The federal district court entered judgment for plaintiffs and issued an injunction prohibiting defendants from using “Sunkist” (or any colorable imitation) in connection with baked goods.
- Defendants appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

## Issues

1. Whether defendants’ use of “Sunkist” on bread and buns, and in the name “Sunkist Baking Co.,” infringed plaintiffs’ registered “Sunkist” and “Sun-Kist” trademarks.
2. Whether plaintiffs’ fruit and fruit-related products and defendants’ bakery products were sufficiently related—described by the district court as goods of “substantially the same descriptive properties”—to make consumer confusion likely.
3. Whether defendants’ conduct constituted unfair competition warranting injunctive relief barring use of “Sunkist” on baked goods.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment and injunction for plaintiffs.
- The court accepted the district court’s finding that plaintiffs’ goods and defendants’ bread and buns were goods of “substantially the same descriptive properties,” supporting a likelihood of confusion in the market for everyday food products.
- The court relied on the strength and wide public recognition of the “Sunkist” name, reinforced by plaintiffs’ longstanding nationwide and international sales and extensive advertising, as support for protection against use on related food items.
- The court upheld injunctive relief prohibiting defendants from using “Sunkist” (or any colorable imitation) in connection with the manufacture, advertising, distribution, or sale of bakery products.

## Legal Principles

- A trademark with strong public recognition can be protected against use on goods that are not identical to the registrant’s goods when the goods are sufficiently related and confusion as to source, approval, or affiliation is likely.
- In evaluating relatedness, courts may treat commonly purchased food items sold to the general public through overlapping channels as having “substantially the same descriptive properties.”
- Trademark infringement and unfair competition focus on likelihood of confusion; extensive proof of actual confusion is not required where the circumstances show a meaningful risk that ordinary purchasers will be misled.
- Injunctive relief is appropriate when a defendant adopts a mark closely associated with another seller in a way that is likely to divert goodwill and mislead consumers about origin, sponsorship, or authorization.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit affirmed an injunction against Sunkist Baking Co.’s use of “Sunkist” on bread and buns, holding that the well-known “Sunkist/Sun-Kist” marks used by California Fruit Growers Exchange and California Packing Corporation were infringed and that defendants’ branding created a likelihood of consumer confusion and amounted to unfair competition.


California Fruit Growers Exchange v. Sunkist Baking Co., 166 F.2d 971 (1947)