Exxon Nixxes Exxene, But Suit Suxxeeds

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The next time Marilyn Warmack suggests a name for a company she and her husband own, William Warmack might choose to ignore her.

In 1974, Marilyn decided to call their new plastic-coating manufacturing business "Exxene Corp." The result was a six-year court battle against giant Exxon Corp. over what the $108 billion oil company claimed was trademark infringement. Exxene, based in Corpus Christi, Tex., now has $1 million in sales.

A judge recently lifted a two-year-old gag order on the case, and now Exxene president William Warmack says he is finally allowed to tell his story.

What Warmack describes as a "nightmare" began in 1974, when Marilyn, chairwoman of the new company, chose the name Exxene. As soon as Warmack's attorney filed for a trademark, Exxon contacted Warmack and claimed that the name constituted an infringement on its trademark.

Warmack didn't agree, but he offered to change the name to Exene or Exzene, if Exxon would pay the approximate cost of the change. Exxon refused, Warmack says, claiming that these names were also infringements and a "hollow echoing of the great name Exxon." Exxon sued, and Warmack countersued, claiming that many of Exxon's trademarks were invalid.

In July 1980, after three years in court, the judge and jury ruled in Warmack's favor and awarded him $250,000 in damages. Eighteen of the trademarks protecting Exxon's name were found invalid, therefore Exxon couldn't claim infringement.

The $250,000 settlement won't cover Warmack's legal expenses of more than $300,000, however. Court fees were higher than the company's annual operating costs, claims the 57-year-old entrepreneur, who says he worked 100 hours a week for more than five years to pay his legal bills.

"I gambled my reputation, my business, my personal word to defend this, and it was all unnecessary," he says. "Nobody wins, everybody loses." The battle isn't over yet for Warmack, however. Exxon has appealed.