The Plomb vs Plumb Lawsuit Tools
In 1926 the Plomb Tool Company applied for a trademark on it’s name, but the Plumb Tool Company (founded earlier) blocked the issuance. Eventually a deal was reached where Plomb agreed not to put it’s name on anything that resembled a tool produced by Plumb.
In 1946 the Plumb Tool Company sued Plomb Tools for trademark infringement when Plomb began manufacturing hammers.
While Plomb fought the action in court, they continued to produce tools, some stamped “Proto MFD USA Plomb Tool Company”. An angry court ruled that Plomb would pay Plumb all of its profits for 1948 and discontinue using the Plomb name immediately.
Unsold tools had the “Plomb” name ground off and stamped with the new name “Proto”. These tools retain a portion of the “Plomb” name and a plomb bob logo, but the rest of the name is ground off. Tools, such as sockets, that could not be restamped, had most of the name ground off.
Here are examples of the 1948 tools:
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