Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, et al

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IN THE 11ATTER OF SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS MAKERS OF AMERICA, ET AL.

MODIFIED ORDER TO CEASE AND DESIST Docket 3092. Order, June 28, 1945 Order, pursuant to provisions of Section 5 (b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, in proceeding in question; in which (1) the original order issued on August 25, 1941, 33 F. T. C. 1130; (2) the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, on February 29, 1944, in Eugene Dielzgen Co. et al. v. Federal Trade Commission, 142 F. (2d) 321, rendered its opinion, and on May 3, 1944 modified the same, on denial of rehearing, and on May 22, 1944 entered four separate decrees by which the Commission's said order to cease a,nd desist was, with respect to said petitioning respondents only, modified, affirmed, and enforced; (3) the Commission on March 2, 1945 1 (a) modified original order of August 25, 1941, pursuant to said four court decrees and as to the respondents therein named only by requiring (A) said respondents, their officers, etc., to cease and desist from entering into or carrying out any understanding, etc., to restrict, restrain, monopolize, hinder or suppress competition in the sale and distribution in commerce of prepared tracing papers, tracing cloths, drawing tools, and various other articles used by surveyors, engineers, builders, the drafting profession and others, by doing any of the acts or things therein specified; and from doing any of such acts or things pursuant to any such understanding, etc.; including among said acts, etc., thus prohibited, the fixing and maintaining of prices and terms and conditions of sale, and the exchanging of information among themselves with respect to prices, etc.; and (B) respondent association, the Surveying-Drafting-Coaters Section of the Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, its manager, etc., to cease and desist from aiding and assisting the members of respondent association in carrying out or engaging in any of the acts and practices theretofore set forth; and particularly through adopting rules and regulations dessigned to prevent price deviations and through receiving and disseminating price lists; (b) as in original order, dismissed the complaint as to respondent Scientific Apparatus Makers of America and certain others named, for insufficient evidence- Similarly modifying said original order, under the provisions of Section 5 (b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act as to the other respondents joined therein; dismissing the complaint, as before, as to said Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, etc.; and excusing respondents, upon whom instant modified order is served, from the filing within sixty days of new compliance reports. Modified ORDER TO CEASE AND Desist This proceeding having been heard by the Federal Trade Commission upon the complaint of the Commission, the answers of respondents, the testimony and other evidence taken before duly appointed trial examiners of the Commission theretofore designated by it to serve in this proceeding, the report of the trial examiner thereon and the exceptions to said report, briefs filed herein by the attorney for the Commission and attorneys for the respondents, and the oral arguments by the respective attorneys, and the Commission having made its findings as to the facts and its conclusion I See:ante, p, 169, SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS MAKERS OF AMERICA ET AL. 675 674 Order that respondents had violated the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and having entered an order to cease and desist herein on August 25, 1941; and, Thereafter, the respondents (I) Keuffel & Esser Company and· Karl Keller; (2) Charles Bruning Company, Inc., The Frederick Post Company, Chas. W. Speidel & Company, J. H. Weil & Company, Paul J. Bruning, W. A. Berger, Arthur L. Parker; and the Charles Bruning Company, Inc., The Frederick Post Company and J. H. Weil & Company, as members of the Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, a corporate association; (3) The C. F. Pease Company; and (4) Eugene Dietzgen Company, filed in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit their four separate petitions for a review of the Commission's said order to cease and desist entered on August 25, 1941. Thereafter, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit entered four separate decrees by which the Commission's said order to cease and desist entered on August 25, 1941, was, with respect to the petitioning respondents only, modified, affirmed and enforced; and It appearing to the Commission that, of the respondents who filed their petitions for review of the Commission's said order to cease and desist with the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, only one of said respondents, namely, Eugene Dietzgen Company, filed a petition for certiorari, which said petition was denied by the Supreme Court of the United States on October 9, 1944, and that the time for filing petitions for certiorari as to the remaining said petitions expired on August 22, 1944; and Thereafter, on March 2, 1945, the Commission having entered its order modifying its order to cease and desist entered on August 25, 1941, with respect to the petitioning respondents only so as to conform to the decrees entered by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; and thereafter on motion of the attorney for the Federal Trade Commission, the Commission, on May 10, 1945, having entered an order directing that a copy of said motion be served upon said respondents and requiring said respondents within twenty days after service upon them of said motion to show cause, if any they could, in writing, why said order to cease and desist heretofore entered herein on August 25, 1941, should not be so modified in accordance with said motion so as to correspond with the language used by the Federal Trade Commission in its order of March 2, 1945, modifying the order to cease and desist heretofore entered on August 25, 1941, as to the respondents, Keuffel & Esser Company and Karl L. Keller; Charles Bruning Company, Inc., The Frederick Post Company, Charles W. Speidel and Walter A. Kohn, trading as Chas. W. Speidel & Company, Jacob H. Weil, Ed"in H. Weil and Manfred R. Krauskopf trading as J. H. Weil & Company, Paul J. Bruning, W. A. Berger, Arthur L. Parker; and the Charles Bruning Company, Inc., The Frederick Post Company, and J. H. Weil & Company, as members of the Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, a corporate association; The C. F. Pease Company; and Eugene Dietzgen Company only, as to all of said respondents, and, thereafter, the said period of twenty days within which said respondents were directed to show cause why said order should not be so modified in accordance with said motion having expired; now, therefore, It is ordered, That in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 (b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, due notice having been served on said respondents, this matter be, and the same hereby is, reopened for the purpose only of modifying the order to cease and desist heretofore entered herein on August 25, 1941.

Order 40 F. 1'. C.

It _is further or~ere~, That the respondents, Surv~ying-Drafti~g-Coatei1l S,ectwn of; the SCientific Apparatus Makers of 4menca, an association, and i~s.offi~ers;_.R. Fred Alli!l, ~ndividual.ly and as a,mem?er of the Executive Committee of the Surveymg-Draftmg-Coaters Sectwn of the Scientifie Apparatus Makers of.Ameri~?a; ~nd The Huey Coni.p~;Lny, a corporation, Economy B~u~ Print Produqts; Inc., Alphonse A. Brunner, trading as Keystone Blue P;aper Company, and United States Blue Print Paper Com. pany, a corporation, all separately and as members and representatives of S,urveying-Drafting-Coaters .Section of Scientifi<; Apparatus Makers of America, a corporate association, and their officers, dire.ctors, representatives, agents ..and employees forthvvith cease and desist from: Directly.or indirectly,· jointly or severally, eqtering.into or carrying out any understanding, ,agreement, arrangemEmt, combination· or conspiracy with each. o.ther oi· wi_t)l any other person or persons, association or corpo~ ration, to restrict, restrain, monopolize; or to hinder.or suppress, competii)\1 tion in. the sale and distribution in commerce, as ",commerce" is defined in the Federal Trade Commission Act, of prepa1:ed tracing papers, tracing cloths, blueprint papers and cloths, other reproductio_il papers and cloths, pr9file and cross _sect.ion papers and cloths irr sheets a,nd rolls, coordinate pape;Jrs~graph sheets .(mccep~- rolled sheets) for engineering and drafting purpof:;es, field books for engineers, drawing instruments, drawing tools (s.cal~s, triangle~, .T-:squares, curves), ·drar(·ing machines, blueprinting machines and equipment, drawing boards and tables, filing cabinets for drawings !j.hd blueprints, lettering devices and lettering pens for the drafting prqfession; slide rules, planimeters and integrators, surveying instruments, surveying barometers, forestry instruments such as. tree .calipers, hypso- Il).~ters, increment borers, curre11t meters and water-stage registers, rods an<;l poles for sur.veyors' use, tapes, chains and plumb· bobs, by doing any of: th,e_ following acts. or. things, a,'f}d from doing any of the following acts or t~_ings purs,uant to any such understanqing,,agreement, arrangement, combination or conspiracy.:· - ~ ·· · . · . • · . : ·, 1. Fixing and maintaining, or. agreeing to fix and maintain thl prices at \'{)lich saiq_ products ~viii be sold by them.- - · · , ,2. Fixing and ,maintaining, or agreeing to fix arid maintain the terms anp, conditiot:J,~; including the classificitti6n of.customers, freight allowances and duratim~;of_and opt~onalclauses in c_contracts, in connection with any sales by _them,of their said produ<;ts. - . - . 3. ·Exchanging information arriong themselves with regard to the prices, discounts, terms and conditions of sale to be submitted by them whep. bids for their pi·od~cts are requested, .and sttbrriitting or agreeing to .. submit identical. or substantially identical, bids on said products when requests for bids'have. been received.. - ' . . . . . 4. Filing with· respondent Surveying-Draft_ting~Coaters Section of Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, pric~Jists including discounts, terms and conditions at which they will sell their p_foducts, for dissemination by said responqent Association among its members.. · · · - _: 5 .. Agreeing not to sell their said products .. at a pr~ce less, or a discount greater, or o_n .terms and conditions more favorable to the purchaser t!1an those contained iri any of the price lists filed with respondent Surveymg- Drafting-Coaters Section of Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, or agreeing not to s~ll,said prodl.lcts at a price less or disccitint ·greater than or on terms and conditions of sale more favorable to the purchaser than those contained in the price list, published by the seller. I SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS MAKERS OF AMERICA ET AL. 677 674 Order It is further ordered, That respondent association, Surveying-Drafting- Coaters Section of Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, Arthur L. Parker, its manager and his successors, Karl Keller, Paul J. Bruning, R. Fred Allin, and W. A. Berger, members of its executive committee and their successors, forthwith cease and desist from, directly or indirectly, jointly or severally, ~tiding and assisting the members of said respondent association in carrying out or engaging in any of the acts and practices hereinbefore set forth, and from performing any service or function in the furtherance of said acts and practices, and particularly from- · 1. Adopting any rule or regulation designed or intended to prevent any deviation on the part of the members of said respondent Association from the prices, discounts and terms fixed and agreed upon by them, as hereinbefore set forth.

2. Receiving from the individual members of said respondent association price lists, including discounts, terms and conditions of sale, and disseminating such information among said respondent association members. It is further ordered, That the complaint herein be and the same hereby is dismissed as to respondents, Scientific Apparatus Makers of America, its officers and directors, and respondents, Carls. Hallauer, R. E. Gillmor and John M. Roberts, the evidence being insufficient to establish the charges of the complaint with respect to these respondents. It i•further ordered, That the respondents upon whom this modified order is served are excused from the filing within (60) days of any new compliance reports, in view of the fact that they have previously filed reports of compliance with the broader form of order originally entered in the case on August 25, 1941.

650780 -47 -46 Syllabus 4U F. T. C.