Modern Garage
Well-known member
As the U. S. has more lawyers per capita than the rest of the world it's no surprise that barely a day goes by that you don't hear of someone hauling someone else into court. Naturally our tool companies aren't immune to this legal epidemic but I seem to have accumulated some oddballs at the junction of 'Tool Street' and 'Lawsuit Avenue' and I thought I'd start a thread to share these dubious finds.
First up is the Stromberg Motoscope. I found this in an antique store and thought (incorrectly) that it was related to the Stromberg carburetor we all know and love. (I also posted here five years ago when I bought the Motoscope in case you're thinking this might sound familiar.) While researching the (non-existent) link between the two Strombergs I discovered very little about the Stromberg Motoscope Coporation or it's owner E.A. Stromberg outside of a couple of similar examples for sale and the findings of a trade infringement lawsuit from 1940. It seems the Stromberg Motoscope Corporation was forced into bankruptcy but E.A. Stromberg continued doing sales and service business using the names and trademarks assigned and purchased by the E. Edelman Company and subsequently the Edelman company sued the former president of Stromberg Motoscope Corporation to stop the trade infringement.
Quotes from the court findings:
"There was abundance of evidence that defendant was guilty of acts constituting unfair competition. After the sale of the assets of the bankrupt corporation he commenced business, taking upon himself the trade names of "E.A. Stromberg, Not Inc.," and "E. A. Stromberg Company, Not Inc.," and advertised in a trade journal that he, formerly president of the Stromberg Motoscope Corporation, was manufacturing and repairing testing instruments for the automotive trade. Also, he inserted advertisements similar to the advertisements of the old bankrupt corporation, with cuts, names of instruments, model numbers, description of each instrument and prices, all identical with those advertised by the bankrupt corporation."
"In January, 1938, he received from an auto supply company an inquiry as to when their order would be filled; to this Stromberg replied that he did not have a copy of this order but if the auto company would mail a copy of it it would be taken care of without delay, thus giving the impression that he had succeeded to the business of Stromberg Motoscope Corporation. One witness testified that there were probably one hundred instances like this one. There were numerous other instances involving appliances used in connection with automobiles and advertised by Stromberg under the names "Acitron" and "Zerotron," using the same tradenames as they appeared in advertisements by the Stromberg Motoscope Corporation."
"The fact that he inserted the letter "r" in his advertisements of the word "Motoscope" so as to read "Motorscope" sufficiently proves that he intentionally attempted to reap the benefit of the good will, etc., of the Stromberg Motoscope Corporation, which had been purchased by plaintiff."
Now I don't know if E.A. Stromberg was just a common crook or if he genuinely thought himself wronged and justified in his actions - the court didn't seem to think so. I can't find any info on the original bankruptcy case either - I presume it's buried in some paid legal database somewhere. You can draw your own conclusions as to the personality of a man who probably died most of a hundred years ago.
But enough talk, here's the Motoscope. It has a vacuum gauge on the left with an adjustable damping orifice to control needle fluctuations for readability (the subject of the patent listed on the gauge face) and a pair of high tension leads connected to an adjustable gap controlled by the small knob on the right gauge face. The HT leads are to be conncted in series with a spark plug and the knob adjusted to increase the internal gap to the point of misfire and then the coil output is read on the gauge.
There have been other diagnostic tools produced by Edelman (or others) bearing the name 'Motoscope' but as far as I can find this is the end of the story of E.A. Stromberg.
Next up: The Ace-Hy bumper jack.
Joe
First up is the Stromberg Motoscope. I found this in an antique store and thought (incorrectly) that it was related to the Stromberg carburetor we all know and love. (I also posted here five years ago when I bought the Motoscope in case you're thinking this might sound familiar.) While researching the (non-existent) link between the two Strombergs I discovered very little about the Stromberg Motoscope Coporation or it's owner E.A. Stromberg outside of a couple of similar examples for sale and the findings of a trade infringement lawsuit from 1940. It seems the Stromberg Motoscope Corporation was forced into bankruptcy but E.A. Stromberg continued doing sales and service business using the names and trademarks assigned and purchased by the E. Edelman Company and subsequently the Edelman company sued the former president of Stromberg Motoscope Corporation to stop the trade infringement.
Quotes from the court findings:
"There was abundance of evidence that defendant was guilty of acts constituting unfair competition. After the sale of the assets of the bankrupt corporation he commenced business, taking upon himself the trade names of "E.A. Stromberg, Not Inc.," and "E. A. Stromberg Company, Not Inc.," and advertised in a trade journal that he, formerly president of the Stromberg Motoscope Corporation, was manufacturing and repairing testing instruments for the automotive trade. Also, he inserted advertisements similar to the advertisements of the old bankrupt corporation, with cuts, names of instruments, model numbers, description of each instrument and prices, all identical with those advertised by the bankrupt corporation."
"In January, 1938, he received from an auto supply company an inquiry as to when their order would be filled; to this Stromberg replied that he did not have a copy of this order but if the auto company would mail a copy of it it would be taken care of without delay, thus giving the impression that he had succeeded to the business of Stromberg Motoscope Corporation. One witness testified that there were probably one hundred instances like this one. There were numerous other instances involving appliances used in connection with automobiles and advertised by Stromberg under the names "Acitron" and "Zerotron," using the same tradenames as they appeared in advertisements by the Stromberg Motoscope Corporation."
"The fact that he inserted the letter "r" in his advertisements of the word "Motoscope" so as to read "Motorscope" sufficiently proves that he intentionally attempted to reap the benefit of the good will, etc., of the Stromberg Motoscope Corporation, which had been purchased by plaintiff."
Now I don't know if E.A. Stromberg was just a common crook or if he genuinely thought himself wronged and justified in his actions - the court didn't seem to think so. I can't find any info on the original bankruptcy case either - I presume it's buried in some paid legal database somewhere. You can draw your own conclusions as to the personality of a man who probably died most of a hundred years ago.
But enough talk, here's the Motoscope. It has a vacuum gauge on the left with an adjustable damping orifice to control needle fluctuations for readability (the subject of the patent listed on the gauge face) and a pair of high tension leads connected to an adjustable gap controlled by the small knob on the right gauge face. The HT leads are to be conncted in series with a spark plug and the knob adjusted to increase the internal gap to the point of misfire and then the coil output is read on the gauge.
There have been other diagnostic tools produced by Edelman (or others) bearing the name 'Motoscope' but as far as I can find this is the end of the story of E.A. Stromberg.
E. Edelman Co. v. Stromberg, 306 Ill. App. 118 | Casetext Search + Citator
Read E. Edelman Co. v. Stromberg, 306 Ill. App. 118, see flags on bad law, and search Casetext’s comprehensive legal database
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Next up: The Ace-Hy bumper jack.
Joe
