Cite as: 505 U. S. 763 (1992)
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
passing-off cause of action. See, e. g., G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Saalfield, 198 F. 369, 372 (CA6 1912) ("The ultimate offense always is that defendant has passed off his goods as and for those of the complainant").
II
Over time, the Circuits have expanded the categories of "false designation of origin" and "false description or representation." One treatise 6 identified the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit as the first to broaden the meaning of "origin" to include "origin of source or manufacture" in addition to geographic origin.7 Another early case, described as unique among the Circuit cases because it was so "forward-looking," 8 interpreted the "false description or representation" language to mean more than mere "palming off." L'Aiglon Apparel, Inc. v. Lana Lobell, Inc., 214 F. 2d 649 (CA3 1954). The court explained: "We find nothing in the legislative history of the Lanham Act to justify the view that [§ 43(a)] is merely declarative of existing law. . . . It seems to us that Congress has defined a statutory civil wrong of false representation of goods in commerce and has given a broad class of suitors injured or likely to be injured by such wrong the right to relief in the federal courts." Id., at 651. Judge Clark, writing a concurrence in 1956, presciently observed: "Indeed, there is indication here and elsewhere that the bar has not yet realized the potential impact of this statutory provision [§ 43(a)]." Maternally Yours, Inc. v. Your Maternity Shop, Inc., 234 F. 2d 538, 546 (CA2). Although some have criticized the expansion as unwise,9 it is now "a firmly
6 2 id., § 27:3, p. 345.
7 Federal-Mogul-Bower Bearings, Inc. v. Azoff, 313 F. 2d 405, 408 (CA6 1963).
8 Derenberg, 32 N. Y. U. L. Rev., at 1047, 1049.
9 See, e. g., Germain, Unfair Trade Practices Under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act: You've Come a Long Way Baby—Too Far, Maybe?, 64 Trademark Rep. 193, 194 (1974) ("It is submitted that the cases have applied Section
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