“The law of trade marks is of recent origin, and may be comprehended in the proposition that a dealer ‘has a property in his trade mark.’ The ownership is allowed to him, that he may have the exclusive benefit of the reputation which his skill has given to articles made by him, and that no other person may be able to sell to the public, as his, that which is not his. An imitation of his mark, with partial differences such as the public would not observe, does him the same harm as an entire counterfeit. If the wholesale buyer, who is most conversant with the marks, is not misled, but the small retailer or the consumer is, the injury is the same in law, and differs only in degree.” Clark v. Clark, 25 Barb. 76 (N.Y. 1857).
“It is no excuse that one using the trade-marks of another informs his dealers of the imitation, for succeeding sellers may not make similar disclosures.” James Kent, 2 Commentaries on American Law *372 n.8 (George Comstock ed., 11th ed. 1866).
