In the case of The Coca-Cola Company v. The Koke Company of America et al., 1920, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of The Coca-Cola Company. This dispute arose when The Koke Company began marketing a similar beverage under the name "Koke," which was deemed an infringement on Coca Cola's trademark rights. Despite arguments from Koke that 'Coca Cola' had become a generic term for cola beverages and thus couldn't be protected by trademark law, the court disagreed. It held that even if consumers referred to all colas as 'coca-cola,' it did not diminish its distinctiveness or dilute its function as a source identifier for goods produced by The Coca-Cola company specifically. Therefore, they concluded that using 'Koke' could cause confusion among consumers and infringe upon Coke's established brand identity.

In the dissenting opinion for The Coca-Cola Company v. The Koke Company of America, Justice Holmes argued that while it is true that a company cannot use another's trademark to deceive customers, this principle should not be extended to prevent all uses of similar names or brands. He believed that the majority had overstepped by granting Coca-Cola an exclusive right to the word "Coke," which was a common term before being associated with their product. Furthermore, he pointed out inconsistencies in how courts have handled such cases and suggested there should be more uniformity in rulings on these matters. In his view, if consumers were not confused or deceived by Koke’s name and branding then no harm was done; thus legal action would only serve as unnecessary interference in business competition.