She has written more than 30 books, including the influential La Varenne Pratique and the 17-volume, photo-illustrated Look and Cook series which was turned into a 26-part PBS program. Willan's The Country Cooking of France received two 2008 James Beard Foundation book awards for best international cookbook and best cookbook photography. Bon Appétit magazine named Willan its cooking teacher of the year in 2000. She was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) in 1999 for her contributions to the world of food writing, culinary education and to the IACP itself.[7]
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Willan received her master's degree in economics from Cambridge University, then studied and taught cooking in London and Paris before moving to the United States where she became an associate editor of Gourmet magazine and food editor of the Washington Star. In 1975, she moved to Paris and founded l'Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne, which later expanded to offer programs at The Greenbrier and at her home in Burgundy, the Château du Fëy. The Burgundy campus was in operation until 2007. Most of her books have been widely published in the United States and the UK and have been translated into more than 24 languages.
Plaintiff, since 1895, has operated a cooking school in Paris, France, under the name of "l'Ecole du Cordon Bleu," also known as "Le Cordon Bleu," to train students to become professional chefs and cooks, and also for those interested in the art of cooking for purely personal and domestic enjoyment. In conjunction with the operation of its school (hereafter the Paris school), plaintiff published a magazine entitled "Le Cordon Bleu," which was edited by renowned chefs on its teaching staff. Through the years it has granted to its students various diplomas, depending upon the courses pursued and the period of classroom attendance. To those students who completed a full course, which required regular class attendance and practical work sessions, and who satisfactorily passed examinations, a "Grand Diplome" was granted, which plaintiff asserts carries with it public recognition of the recipient's skill in the art of French cooking. Plaintiff contends that *269 the trade name "Cordon Bleu" has been publicly identified with it and the Paris school as the source for distinctive and superior cooking instructions, methods and recipes.
In 1968-69 the defendant BPC Publishing Limited had successfully published and distributed a seventy-two weekly partwork entitled "Cordon Bleu Cookery Course" in England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and parts of South Africa, and in all had sold thirteen million copies of the course. The publication under that name was pursuant to an agreement with and under the sponsorship of the Cordon Bleu Cookery School of London, England. The London school was founded under the name "Au Petit Cordon Bleu" forty years ago by Rosemary Hume and Dione Lucas, both Grand Diplome graduates of the Paris school, and after World War II it was operated under its present name "Cordon Bleu Cookery School" (hereafter the London school). The defendants, based upon an affidavit by Miss Hume, assert that the London school received permission for the use of the name from one of the principals of the Paris school. The courses at the London school are designed for the nonprofessional cook: the housewife, the husband, the bachelor or the domestic servant. It is also alleged that the London school has achieved an international reputation for its teaching of the Cordon Bleu method of cooking, which, according to Miss Hume, stresses the economy of time and materials, has been developed by her own refinements of method and technique, is not unique to the Paris school, and is not limited to the French style of cooking. The London school also operated a restaurant known as "Au Petit Cordon Bleu." Miss Lucas, one of the co-founders, came to the United States, where in 1947 she authored "The Cordon Bleu Cook Book," published and distributed throughout the United States by Little, Brown and Company; she also conducted in New York City a Cordon Bleu cooking school and restaurant. The seventy-two issues of the "Cordon Bleu Cookery Course" distributed in 1968-69 in various Commonwealth countries and South Africa, as already noted, were under the sponsorship of the London school, and its name, methods and recipes were used in all issues pursuant to an agreement between it and the defendant BPC.
The success of the United Kingdom venture led the defendants to consider publication of a similar cooking course publication in the United States or, as it has been termed, an "Americanized version." The defendants deemed that an American publication entitled "Cordon Bleu Cookery Course" would fare better commercially as a fully European version under the sponsorship of both the London and the Paris schools. Accordingly, they were prepared to pay royalties for the endorsement by the Paris school and the use of its trademark (the defendants already had an agreement with the London school). Negotiations initially were commenced early in 1970 in Paris with representatives of plaintiff, but later were carried on in this country by its designated business representative. After extensive negotiations and proposals and counter proposals, the parties failed to reach an agreement. A principal point of difference, although not the sole one, related to amounts and percentages to be paid to the Paris school under a royalty arrangement. On July 8, 1970, the defendants notified plaintiff's representative that since they had failed to consummate an agreement, they proposed to "launch our Cookery Course in the USA *270 under some other name"that is, other than "Cordon Bleu Cookery Course." Early in February 1971, the defendants advertised in the New York magazine that they planned publication of a partwork under the title "Grand Diplome Cooking Course," and that the first issue would go on sale on March 2. The advertisement carried a front cover picture with the name "Grand Diplome Cooking Course," and above, in smaller type, the legend, "Week by Week Learn to Cook the International Cordon Bleu Way." The first number was issued as advertised on March 2 and successive issues published and distributed weekly thereafter, all bearing the title and legend as they appeared on the cover of the original issue.
Plaintiff commenced this action on April 26. In substance, in seeking to enjoin the defendants' publication, it asserts that the title, the byline, the text and pictures in each issue convey the idea that the magazine originates with and is the product of the plaintiff and its school; also, that those who purchase the seventy-two issues will receive an education and training in French cooking equivalent to that received by students at plaintiff's school who there complete the courses leading to the Grand Diplome. The defendants, in opposing, contend in substance that Cordon Bleu is a generic term and that its use is descriptive, deny the term has acquired a secondary meaning with respect to the Paris school, and allege consent to its use by the London school. The moving and opposing affidavits refer extensively to these and other matters bearing on the respective contentions, which need not be detailed here. 2ff7e9595c
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