An entrepreneur named Charles Cheers began making a cereal shaped like a pillow. The new cereal was
Question:
An entrepreneur named Charles Cheers began making a cereal shaped like a pillow. The new cereal was made from wheat and was called Sliced Whole Wheat. Another entrepreneur named William Wheaty said that eating the cereal was like eating a whisk broom, and critics at a cereal trade show called it shredded grass. But the product surprisingly took off. After Mr. Cheers died and his two patents, on the form and the machinery that made the cereal expired, the Wheaty company, now whistling a different tune, began selling a similar cereal. The National Wheat Cereal Company, a successor of Cheers' original company, filed a lawsuit against the Wheaty Company, arguing that the new shredded wheat was a trademark violation and unfair competition. The Wheaty company, in turn, viewed the suit as an attempt on National Wheat Cereal Company's part to monopolize the shredded wheat market. The case was brought to the Supreme Court to determine the rights of the parties. Give your opinion on this case.