But again, this case is about toilet paper, and who really pays attention to the design on a roll of toilet paper? The parties, however, are quick to inform us that in a $4 billion dollar industry, designs are very important. The claim in this case is that a few of Kimberly–Clark's brands of toilet paper are infringing on Georgia–Pacific's trademark design. Ironically, its signature toilet paper brand is called Cotton elle. In the near corner, headquartered in the north, in Neenah, Wisconsin (just minutes away from Green Bay), and a long way from the land of cotton, we have the Kimberly–Clark Corporation. Important to this case, and more than a bit ironic, is that the name of Georgia–Pacific's flagship toilet paper is Quilted Northern. In the far corner, from an old cotton-producing state (Dixie: “I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten.”) and headquartered in the area (Atlanta) where Scarlett O'Hara roamed Tara in Margaret Mitchell's epic Gone With the Wind, we have the Georgia–Pacific Company. We'll start by introducing the combatants. That's quite a record considering, again, that this case is about toilet paper. We are told that during the “expedited” discovery period leading up to the district court decision we are called upon to review, some 675,000 pages of documents were produced and more than a dozen witnesses were deposed. Together they cite some 119 cases and 20 federal statutes (albeit with a little overlap) in their initial briefs. And the lawyers on both sides of this dispute are truly first-rate. But then again, only a select few of us work in the rarefied air inhabited by top-rate intellectual property lawyers who specialize in presenting and defending claims of unfair competition and trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. Are there many other things most people use every day but think very little about? We doubt it. Handelman, Brinks, Hofer, Gilson & Lione, Chicago, IL, for Defendants–Appellees. Herrington, Mcdermott, Will & Emery, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff–Appellant. Brewster, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, Atlanta, GA, Elizabeth B. Decided: July 28, 2011īefore KANNE, EVANS, and SYKES, Circuit Judges. KIMBERLY–CLARK CORPORATION, et al., Defendants–Appellees. GEORGIA–PACIFIC CONSUMER PRODUCTS LP, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. What we know.United States Court of Appeals,Seventh Circuit. The mill sits on 44 acres in an industrial area at the confluence of the Fox and East rivers north of downtown Green Bay.Ĭontact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or Follow him on Twitter at article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Georgia Pacific's Green Bay paper mill closing. Georgia-Pacific thus far has not said anything about the future of the property at 500 Day St. Georgia-Pacific bought the Day Street Mill in 2000 as part of its acquisition of Fort James Corp., which had owned the Northern Tissue operation since 1982. The mill helped Green Bay earn the title “Toilet Paper Capital of the World.” The tissue took its name from the company, Quilted Northern, a brand which continues to be sold today.īy 1920, the company was the largest producer of toilet paper in the world. In its first year, the mill employed 25 people and shipped 800 tons of toilet paper. It began operation as the Northern Tissue Paper Mill on March 29, 1901. The mill was started by seven Wisconsin men who pooled $70,000 to build the plant.
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