Court Rejects Wall Street Journal’s Appeal Over Name

An appeals judge Tuesday refused to overturn a court order prohibiting the Wall Street Journal from using the name “California Journal” on its pages devoted to business and financial news in the Golden State.

The order was issued at the request of a Sacramento-based political magazine that has used the name since 1970.

Starting today, the newspaper’s regional pages, published in the Marketplace section, will simply bear the label “California,” said Rick Wartzman, the Los Angeles-based editor of the new feature.

Last week, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Earl Warren Jr. granted a preliminary injunction that prevented the newspaper from using the name. Judge Robert Puglia of California’s 3rd District Court of Appeal on Tuesday rejected the paper’s appeal.

“I don’t know how many stones it’s going to take to knock over Goliath, but we have won Round 3,” said Tom Hoeber, publisher of the 17,000-circulation California Journal magazine.

Wall Street Journal attorney Rex Heinke said the newspaper will appeal its case to the state Supreme Court.

He said that because the pages are contained in the newspaper’s Marketplace section, they do not constitute a separate section and are not covered under a previous temporary restraining order.

The Journal’s circulation is 1.8 million U.S., 280,000 in California.