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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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051589
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05158900.017
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1990-09-22
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BUSINESS, Page 59Business NotesTRADEMARKSWhat Makes a Real Murphy?
Ever since Charlie Chaplin battled a rambunctious Murphy bed,
the fold-up sleeper has been an American icon. In New York City
last week, a federal appeals court showed just how firmly the name
is embedded in popular lore when it ruled that "Murphy bed" has
become a generic term and therefore is not subject to trademark
protection.
The decision overturned a lower-court victory by the Murphy
Door Bed Co. of Amityville, N.Y. The firm claimed that a former
Murphy distributor had illegally called his product the "original"
Murphy bed. The appeals court ordered the distributor to pay
damages for competing unfairly and violating an agreement to stop
using the word original. But the judges held that the term Murphy
bed can be used by any manufacturer.