South Bend, E.V. Selby and the "Double Action" Legal Action

Last week I wrote about a potential lawsuit between South Bend and Paul H. Young over the "comficient" grip for fly rods. I casually mentioned that South Bend had a history of being, how shall we say, extremely litigious. Jim Jordan wrote me and noted that South Bend threatened legal action against a small lure company by the name of E.V. Selby. He had recently posted this info on Joe's Board and has graciously allowed us to repost it here.
South Bend, E.V. Selby and the "Dual Action" Legal Action
by Jim Jordan
E.V. Selby invented the Flat-head lure and sold his baits out of Decatur, Illinois. This bait came in at least 7 colors. Selby advertised his flat-head lure as a Dual Action lure much to the dismay of South Bend Bait Co. who took legal action against Selby for Trademark infringement for using the word Dual Action.


Selby was pretty slick and changed one letter in his advertising to avoid South Bend's legal action. He simply changed the letter "A" in the word Dual to a "B".







A classic case of a big company (South Bend) having its way with a smaller one (Selby). Obviously, Paul Young had REAL worries on his hands!

-- Dr. Todd