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GENERAL CAR & TRUCK v. LANE & WATERMAN12/18/1996
d by Gene Ehlers contained his acknowledgment that any willful false statements were punishable by fine and imprisonment and would jeopardize registration of the service mark. Michael Ehlers knew from his conversations with Stowell concerning the attempted registration of the "GENERAL" mark for use [557 NW2d Page 283]
with leasing agricultural equipment that uses not within the scope of General Car's business should not be included in the affidavit. Knowledge of this same fact is apparent from Craig's letter to Michael Ehlers in 1984 concerning the renewal affidavit. Their plan at that time was to leave the false statements of use in the affidavit and if asked to verify them, then amend the affidavit to remove those uses. If there was any confusion with respect to the misrepresentations in the 1985 affidavit, it was with respect to the consequences of getting caught; there was no confusion concerning the inaccuracy of the statements or the impropriety of including them in the affidavit. As to the culpable conduct itself — knowingly making a false representation of a material fact to the PTO — Gene Ehlers was at least equally, if not more, culpable than Waterman, and Michael Ehlers was equally culpable with Craig.
VII. Summary.
We have considered all arguments made by the parties with respect to the in pari delicto issue, even though not specifically addressed in this opinion, and conclude the district court properly entered summary judgment in favor of Lane & Waterman. General Car's fraud in obtaining the registration of its service mark and the renewal of its registration is misconduct triggering the in pari delicto doctrine. The required elements of this fraud are undisputed, largely due to the findings made in the prior cancellation proceeding. Although Lane & Waterman counseled General Car's 1985 misrepresentation, General Car was equally culpable. Therefore, General Car was in pari delicto with Lane & Waterman and consequently, General Car's claim against Lane & Waterman is barred.
We recognize our decision has the effect of relieving Lane & Waterman from any civil liability for its participation in General Car's deception of the PTO. We share the public's interest in discouraging misleading conduct by lawyers as well as by their clients. The interest in deterring misconduct by lawyers, however, can be better addressed through grievance procedures designed to deal with the unethical actions of attorneys, rather than by rewarding one of the participants in the misconduct. Pantely, 447 N.W.2d at 868-69; see Committee on Prof'l Ethics & Conduct v. Bauerle, 460 N.W.2d 452, 453 (Iowa 1990) (suspending license of attorney who altered and backdated partnership agreement documents and falsely attested that persons had appeared and signed documents when they had not); Committee on Prof'l Ethics & Conduct v. O'Donohoe, 426 N.W.2d 166, 168-69 (Iowa 1988) (publicly reprimanding attorney for knowingly making a false statement of fact on a document filed for public record). In this way, both client and lawyer are forcefully reminded that such conduct will not be ignored and certainly will not be rewarded.
AFFIRMED. [557 NW2d Page 284]
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