Mr. T. Clay Lindsey Trade-Marks Page 2 July 2, 1947 automatic shotgun of the same gun. It is at present buying made guns, II. TRADE-MARK basic design as that and selling both the BACKGROUND In the attached summary it will Browning Company is the owner of two assignment, A, be noted that the J.M. & M.S. trade-marks through procedures “FN" TRADE-MARK 1. Expiration: The patent on this are attached, Registration was (Applied year of the imported domestic and foreign of (248671) April period of 16, 1928). It registration trade-mark, and assignments obtained October 50, 1928 will will be noted expire that next the twenty year, Purpose: Registration of this mark was obtained as an emergency measure to prevent the bootlegging of this type shotgun into this country. Origin: Previous to this date the guns had been imported without trade-mark protection, However, since 1925 the guns had born a buttplate of distinctive design, which was in 1928 acceptable as a trade-mark for the immediate need, The F.N,’' refers to the name of the independent concern that makes the guns: Fabrique Nationale d'Armes De Guerre, Herstal, Belgium. This concern sells a variety of its products in foreign countries; none in the U. S. A. They use "FN" in various combinations as a trade-mark on their products, which includes guns identical to those we sell in this country. It is widely trade-marked in foreign countries. The buttplate design on our automatics is identical to that on the automatic shotguns sold by Fabrique Nationale in foreign countries only. Only on buttplates of automatic shotguns imported Our Use: by the J.M. & M.S. Browning Company and sold by the Browning Arms Company. Questions: a. b. Do we have strong rights to the use of "FN" as a trade- mark in this country? Could we use it more broadly than merely on the butte plates? This presupposes registration for variations of a design around the "FN", Is our position favorable for obtaining such registration? If a certain number of guns are sold which, as the result of customer request, have "FN" buttplates replaced by recoil pads of non-descript markings, is our trademark position weakened?