Beginning in 1976, the company's phone number in the New York metropolitan area had been 628-8737 or M-A-T-T-R-E-S on the telephone dial.

[1] Following the events stated above, Dial-A-Mattress filed a complaint against Page seeking an injunction, an accounting, and damages on claims of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment under federal and New York law.

A temporary restraining order was issued, enjoining Page from using the 1-800-MATTRESS number and the case was set for an evidentiary hearing.

[1] As stated by the Appeals Court, the "somewhat novel" issue raised in this case is whether it is unfair competition for a business to acquire a telephone number identified by the spelling of a generic term that a competitor is using (albeit with a spelling modification) to identify its telephone number.

From the start, the court noted that Dial–A–Mattress could not claim trademark rights in the word “mattress” used solely to identify its company or its product.