Opinion
No. 39112
Decided June 30, 1965.
Trade names — Life insurance companies — Distinctive word combinations used in titles — Not deceptively similar, when — Not unfair competition — Injunction — Evidence.
The words, "The Ohio Life Insurance Company," used in the corporate name of a life insurance company, are not so deceptively similar to the words "The Ohio National Life Insurance Company," used in the corporate name of another life insurance company, as to lead to confusion and uncertainty on the part of the public, resulting in unfair competition.
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Butler County.
The Ohio National Life Insurance Company, appellee, has been incorporated in and has carried on the business of life insurance in the state of Ohio for more than 50 years under its present name, with its home office in Cincinnati. It is a mutual life insurance company, operating in 30 states. It ranks about 73rd in size by the amount of insurance in force, and 52nd in the amount of assets among the more than 1400 life insurance companies in the United States. It has in force more than 235,000 policies of life insurance and annuities, of which more than 44,000 are on Ohio residents. It offers about 50 plans of insurance, plus its group accident and health policies.
The appellee has about 760 agency agreements in force with its agents, through whom it deals with the public in the sale of its insurance. Its career agents are required to devote their full time to the business of appellee. The appellee spends large sums of money each year in recruiting and training its agency force. The appellee engages in a costly program of advertising, which includes radio, television, newspapers and national magazines, as well as direct mail and point of contact material, to promote its name and the sale of its product to the general public.
The appellant, The Ohio Life Insurance Company, which has its home office in Hamilton, Ohio, was originally incorporated in 1925 under the name, Inland Casualty Company. During the ensuing years it changed its name several times. The appellant's name was The Ohio Insurance Company from January 1938 to January 1961, a period of 23 years.
The appellant is a member of The Ohio Casualty Group and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Ohio Casualty Insurance Company.
In recent years fire and casualty companies have been acquiring life insurance subsidiaries to provide their agents with a complete line of insurance and to offer their policyholders one-stop insurance service.
The Ohio Casualty Group, in order to provide its agents and policyholders with similar service in the highly competitive field of insurance business, decided to establish a life insurance company subsidiary. The appellant, The Ohio Insurance Company, which had formerly been a fire and casualty company, reinsured all its fire and casualty policyholders with its parent, The Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, and thereafter amended its charter to eliminate its fire and casualty powers and to adopt life insurance powers.
On January 1, 1961, the word "Life" was inserted into its name, and it became The Ohio Life Insurance Company.
Appellant asserts that the reason for the inclusion of the word "life" in its name was that a number of states require the word "Life" to appear in the corporate name of a life insurance company which does business in those states.
The appellant offers its life insurance policies through the fire and casualty agents of Ohio Casualty, whose principal business is the sale of fire and casualty insurance.
The appellant does no advertising to identify itself or its products independently of the Ohio Casualty Group. Neither the appellant nor the Group does any advertising via radio, television or in national magazines.
The appellee brought this action for an injunction in the Butler County Common Pleas Court, alleging that appellee's name and appellant's name were "so nearly similar * * * as to lead to confusion and uncertainty on the part of the public" and that this similarity of names tended to "mislead and confuse the public" to appellee's "irreparable harm, damage and injury."
Appellee alleges that it had no adequate remedy at law and prays that an injunction be issued restraining the appellant from using the name "The Ohio Life Insurance Company" in carrying on the business of life insurance in the state of Ohio and elsewhere.
Appellant's amended answer consists of a general denial and the allegations that there is in Ohio a long-established (83 years) and uniform administrative practice to permit the use of geographical names and names descriptive of insurance in the names of insurance companies.
The amended answer further alleges that both the appellee's name and the appellant's name consist entirely of geographical and descriptive words. A cross-petition was filed which is not relevant to the question before the court.
The trial court, finding no confusing similarity in the names, dismissed appellee's petition.
The Court of Appeals, on an appeal on questions of law and fact, allowed the injunction prayed for by the appellee.
The cause is before this court pursuant to the allowance of a motion to certify the record.
Mr. William J. Schmid and Mr. Jackson Bosch, for appellee.
Messrs. Fitton, Pierce Baden, Messrs. Vorys, Sater, Seymour Pease and Mr. Arthur I. Vorys, for appellant.
The question which this court must decide may be stated thus: Is the name of the appellant, The Ohio Life Insurance Company, so similar to that of the appellee, The Ohio National Life Insurance Company, as to lead to probable confusion and uncertainty on the part of the public, thus resulting in unfair competition?
The appellee does not claim that the appellant may not use the words "Life," or "Insurance," or "Ohio" in an arrangement of words constituting a corporate name. The appellee contends that the arrangement "The Ohio Life Insurance Company" results in a deceptive similarity with the corporate name of the appellee.
There is no contention that there is fraud or an improper intent on the part of the appellant.
There is no evidence that the appellee has suffered damages as a result of this change in the corporate name by the appellant.
The appellant relies upon the approval given to its change in corporate name, as required by statute, by the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the Superintendent of Insurance. These approvals by administrative agencies and elected officials deserve to be given weight but are not conclusive or binding upon a court.
The appellee, for its position, relies principally upon National City Bank of Cleveland v. National City Window Cleaning Company, 174 Ohio St. 510; Younker v. Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co., 175 Ohio St. 1; Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Metropolitan Ins. Co. (D.C. Ill.), 180 F. Supp. 682; (C.C.A. 7), 277 F.2d 896.
A number of cases in jurisdictions outside Ohio have refused to allow an injunction in cases somewhat similar to the one before this court. Continental Ins. Co. v. Continental Fire Assn., 101 F. 255; Central Mutual Auto Ins. Co. v. Central Mutual Ins. Co. of Chicago, 275 Mich. 554, 267 N.W. 733; Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America v. Guardian National Life Ins. Co., 158 F. Supp, 623; Sears, Roebuck Co. v. All States Life Ins. Co., 246 F.2d 161; Allstate Ins. Co. v. Allstate Investment Corp., 210 F. Supp. 25; Standard Acc. Ins. Co. v. Standard Surety Casualty Co. of New York, 53 F.2d 119.
An examination of the names of life insurance companies admitted to do business in Ohio indicates that there are a great many companies which use the name of a state, the word "Life" or the words "Life Insurance," and the word "National" or the words "National Life Insurance" in their corporate names.
There are already several pairs of insurance companies doing business in Ohio with corporate names as similar as those in question here, the material difference in each pair being only the use of the word "National" in one and the omission of that word in the other.
Wisconsin National Life and Wisconsin Life are identical to the names involved here except for the name of the state. An examination of life insurance companies doing business in other jurisdictions reveals that there is great similarity of names if you consider the use of the words "National" or "National Life Insurance," or "Life" or "Life Insurance," and the names of the states in which the companies are admitted to do business.
There is nothing in the record of this case, nor in the reasoning and argument of appellee, which persuades this court to extend the rules established in the National City Bank case, supra, and the Younker case, supra, to prohibit the use of the words "The Ohio Life Insurance Company" as the corporate name of the appellant.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is, therefore, reversed, and final judgment is entered for the appellant.
Judgment reversed.
TAFT, C.J., ZIMMERMAN, MATTHIAS, HERBERT, SCHNEIDER and BROWN, JJ., concur.