Consumer Law Library

Rayon And Silk Dyeing, Printing, And Finishing Industry

16 CFR Part 155 · Trade practice rules · in the Code of Federal Regulations 1941-1976 (13 annual editions)

Scanned CFR pages, OCR text may contain errors; the linked Library of Congress PDF is the authority. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the FTC. These rules and guides are historical: most were rescinded or replaced, so do not assume any is in force.

Latest edition: Library of Congress, 1976 CFR · Earliest edition: 1941 CFR

Text (1976 edition, OCR)

§.154.94

in commerce, in the course of such com-
merce, knowingly to induce or receive a
discrimination in price, advertising or
promotional allowances, or services or
facilities, prohibited by the foregoing
provisions of this section. [Rule 23]

§ 154.24 Discriminatory returns.

It is an unfair trade practice for any
member of the industry to discriminate
in favor of one customer-purchaser
against another customer-purchaser of
industry products, bought from such
member of the industry for resale, by
contracting to furnish, or furnishing in
connection therewith, upon terms not ac-
corded to all customer-purchasers on
proportionally equal terms, the service
or facility whereby such favored cus-
tomer is accorded the privilege of return-
ing industry products so purchased and
receiving therefor credit or refund of
purchase price: Provided, however, That
nothing in this part shall prohibit or be
used to prevent the return of merchan-
dise by purchaser for credit or refund of
purchase price: Provided, however, That
merchandise has not been properly
labeled by the seller in accordance with
this part or has been otherwise falsely or
deceptively labeled or represented, or
when and because such merchandise is
defectlve in materlal, workmanship, or
fn any other respect is contrary to war-
ranty or purchase contract: And pro-
vided, further, That nothing herein shall
prohibit a purchaser from exchanging
the current season’s merchandise for dif-
ferent sizes of the same style number in
order to balance purchaser’s_ stock.
(Nothing in this section is intended to
modify or affect any of the requirements
of § 154.23 entitled “‘Prohlbited Discrim-
ination.”) (Rule 241
§ 154.25 Consignment distribution.

(a) It is an unfair trade practice for
any member of the industry to employ
the practice of shipping industry prod-
ucts on consignment without the ex-
press request or prior consent of the
purchasers.

(b) Nothing in this section shall be
construed to authorize any understand-
ing or agreement, combination or con-
spiracy, or planned common course of
action, by and between industry mem-
bers, mutually to conform or restrict
their practice of shipping goods on con-
signment. [Rule 25]

Title 16—Commercial Practices

§ 154.26 Exclusive dealing.

It is an unfair trade practice for any
member of the industry engaged in com-
merce, in the course of such commerce,
to lease or make a sale or contract for
sale of any industry product, for use,
consumption, or resale within any place
under the jurisdiction of the United
States, or fix a price charged therefor,
or discount from, or rebate upon, such
price, on the condition, agreement, or
understanding that the lessee or pur-
chaser thereof shall not use or deal in
the goods of a competitor or competitors
of the lessor or seller, where the effect
of such lease, sale, or contract for sale,
or such condition, agreement, or under-
standing, nay be to substantially lessen
competition or tend to create a monopoly
in any line of commerce. [Rule 26]

§ 154.27 Aiding or abetting use of un-
fair trade practices.

It is an unfair trade practice for any
person, firm, or corporation to aid, abet,
coerce, or induce another directly or in-
directly, to use or promote the use of
any unfair trade practice prohibited by
this part. [Rule 27]

PART 155—RAYON AND SILK DYE-

ING, PRINTING, AND FINISHING
INDUSTRY

Group I

Sec.

165.1 Misbranding and misrepresentation.

155.2 Deceptive concealment.

155.3 Substitution of products,

155.4 Imitation or simulation of trade-
marks, trade names, etc.

155.5 Defamation of competitors.

165.6 Disparagement of products of com-
petitors.

155.7 Commercial bribery.

155.8 Procurement of competitors’ con-
fidential information by unfair
means and wrongful use thereof.

155.9 Inducing breach of contract.

155.10 Unlawful interference,

155.11 Unfair threats of infringement suits.

155.12 Coercing purchase of one product as
a@ prerequisite to the purchase of
other products.

155.18 Bogus independents.

155.14 Selling below cost.

155.15 Discrimination; prohibited discrimt-
natory prices, or rebates, refunds,
discounts, credits, etc., which effect
unlawful price discrimination.

155.16 “End piece pilfering,” false invoicing,

etc.


Chapter |—Federal

Group II
Sec.
155.101 Repudiation of contracts.
165.102 Cost records,
155.103 Arbitration.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 155
issued under secs. 6(g), 5, 38 Stat. 722.719; 16
U.S.C. 46(g), 45 unless otherwise noted.

Source: The provisions of this Part 155
appear at 6 F.R. 6369, Dec. 12, 1941, unless
otherwise noted.

Group I

§ 155.1 Misbranding and misrepresenta-
tion.

The false or deceptive marking or
branding of products of the industry, or
the making or publishing of any false
or deceptive advertisements, statements,
or representations, concerning the dye-
ing, printing, bleaching, finishing, or
processing of any products of the indus-
try, or concerning their quality, quantity,
weighting, fiber content, or preparation,
or in any other material respect, is an
unfair trade practice.

§ 155.2 Deceptive concealment.

It is an unfair trade practice for any
member of the industry to use, or directly
or indirectly to assist others in the use
of, any deceptive selling method or other
deceptive act or practice by concealing
or failing to disclose textile content,
weighting, and other information re-~
quired to be disclosed by Parts 123 and
135 of this subchapter, or other appli-~
cable rules; or by any other means to
engage in deceptive selling methods.

§ 155.3 Substitution of products.

The practice of shipping or delivering
preducts which do not conform to sam-
ples submitted, or to representations
made prior to securing the order, without
the consent of the customers to such
substitutions, cr with the capacity and
tendency or effect of misleading or de-
ceiving the purchasing or consuming
public, is an unfair trade practice.

§ 155.4 Imitation or simulation of trade-
marks, trade names, ete.

The imitation or simulation of the
trade-marks, trade names, brands, or
labels of competitors, with the tendency
and capacity or effect of thereby mis-
leading or deceiving the purchasing or
consuming public, is an unfair trade
practice.

Trade Commission § 155.9

§ 155.5 Defamation of competitors.

The defamation of competitors by
falsely imputing to them dishonorable
business conduct, inability to perform
contracts, questionable credit standing,
or by other false representations, is an
unfair trade practice.

§ 155.6 Disparagement of products of
competitors,

The false disparagement of the grade,
quality, quantity, weighting, fiber con-
tent, character, or processing of competi-
tors’ products or service is an unfair
trade practice.

§ 155.7 Commercial bribery,

It is an unfair trade practice for a
member of the industry, directly or in-
directly, to give, or offer to give, or permit
or cause to be given, money or anything
of value to agents, employees, or repre-
sentatives of customers or prospective
customers, or to agents, employees, or
representatives of competitors’ custom-
ers or prospective customers, without the
knowledge of their employers or prin-
cipals, as an inducement to influence
their employers or principals to contract
for the processing of goods or products
by such industry member or the maker
of such gift or offer, or to influence such
employers or principals to refrain from
dealing with competitors.

§ 155.8 Procurement of competitors’
confidential information by unfair
means and wrongful use thereof.

Obtaining information concerning the
business of a competitor by bribery of an
employee or agent of such competitor, by
false or misleading statements, by the
impersonation of one in authority, or by
any other unfair means, and using the
information so obtained in such a man-
ner as to injure said competitor in his
business or to suppress competition or
unreasonably restrain trade, is an unfair
trade practice.

§ 155.9 Inducing breach of contract.

Inducing or attempting to induce the
breach of existing lawful contracts be-
tween competitors and their customers
cr their suppliers by any false or decep-
tive means whatsoever, or interfering
with or obstructing the performance of
any such contractual duties or services
by any such means, with the purpose
and effect of unduly hampering, injur-~


§ 155.10

ing, or prejudicing competitors in their
businesses, is an unfair trade practice.

§ 155.10 Unlawful interference.

It is an unfair trade practice for any
member of the industry, by means of any
monopolistic practices, or through com-
bination, conspiracy, coercion, boycott,
threats, or any other unlawful means,
directly or indirectly, to interfere with
a competitor’s right to purchase his ma-
terials and supplies from whomsoever he
chooses, or to seli to whomsoever he
chooses.

8155.11 Unfair threats of infringement
suits.

The circulation of threats of sult for
infringement of patents or trade-marks
among customers or prospective custom~
ers of competitors, not made in good
faith but with the effect of intimidating
such customers or prospective customers,
or of hampering or injuring competitors
in their businesses, is an unfair trade
practice.

§ 155.12 Coercing purchase of one prod-
uct as a prerequisite to the purchase
of other products.

The practice of coercing the purchase
of one or more products as a prerequisite
to the purchase of one or more other
products, where the effect may be to sub-
stantially lessen competition or tend to
create a monopoly or to unreasonably
restrain trade, is an unfair trade prac-
tice.

§ 155.13 Bogus independents.

It is an unfair trade practice to sell or
offer to sell industry products through a
pretended independent concern in such
manner as to mislead or deceive custom-
ers or prospective customers into the er-
roneous belief that such concern is in-
dependent and in competition with that
member of the industry owning or con-
trolling such concern.

§ 155.14 Selling below cost.

’ The practice of selling industry prod-
ucts below the seller’s cost, when pursued
with wrongful intent of thereby injuring
a@ competitor and where the effect of such
practice is to unreasonably restrain trade.
tend to create a monopoly, or substan.
tially lessen competition, is an unfair
trade practice.

28

Title 16—Commercial Practices

This section is not to be construed as
prohibiting all sales below cost, but only
such selling below the seller’s cost as is
resorted to and pursued as a monopolistic
practice with the wrongful intent re-
ferred to and coupled with the effect of
unreasonably restraining trade, tending
to create a monopoly, or substantially
lessening competition.

The costs referred to in this section are
actual costs of the respective seller and
not some other figure or average costs
in the Industry determined by an indus-
try cost survey or otherwise.

§ 155.15 Discrimination; prohibited dis-
criminatory prices, or rebates, re
funds, discounts, credits, etc., which
effect unlawful price discrimination.

(a) General. It is an unfalr trade
practice for any member of the industry
engaged in commerce, in the course of
such commerce, to grant or allow, secretly
or openly, directly or indirectly, any re-
bate, refund, discount, credit, allowance
for alleged imperfect workmanship after
material has been cut, or other form
of price differential, where such rebate,
refund, discount, credit, allowance for
alleged imperfect workmanship, or other
form of price differential, effects a dis-~
crimination in price between different
purchasers of commodities of like grade
and quality, where either or any of the
purchases involved therein are in com-
merce, and where the effect thereof may
be substantially to lessen competition or
tend to create a monopoly in any line of
commerce or to injure, destroy, or prevent
competition with any person who either
grants or knowingly receives the benefit
of such discrimination, or with customers
of either of them: Provided, however, (1)
That the goods involved in any such
transaction are sold for use, consump-
tion, or resale within any place under the
jurisdiction of the United States;

(2) That nothing contained in this
section shall prevent differentials which
make only due allowance for differences
in the cost of manufacture, sale, or de-
livery resulting from the _ differing
methods or quantities In which such
commodities are to such purchasers sold
or delivered; -

(3) That nothing contained in this
section shall prevent persons engaged in
selling goods, wares, or merchandise in


Chapter |-——Federal Trade Commission

commerce from selecting their own cus-
tomers in bona fide transactions and not
in restraint of trade;

(4) That nothing contained in this
section shall prevent price changes from
time to time where made in response to
changing conditions affecting either (i)
the market for the goods concerned, or
(ii) the marketability of the goods, such
as, but not Hmited to, actual or imminent
deterioration of perishable goods, obso-
lescence of seasonal goods, distress sales
under court process, or sales in good faith
in discontinuance of business in the goods
concerned.

(b) Prohibited brokerage and commis-
stons. It is an unfair trade practice for
any member of the industry engaged in
commerce, in the course of such com-
merce, to pay or grant, or to receive or
accept, anything of value as a commis-
sion, brokerage, or other compensation,
or any allowance or discount in lieu
thereof, except for services rendered in
connection with the sale or purchase of
goods, wares, or merchandise, either to
the other party to such transaction or to
an agent, representative, or other inter-
mediary therein where such intermediary
is acting in fact for or in behalf, or is sub-
ject to the direct or indirect control, of
any party to such transaction other than
the person by whom such compensation
is so granted or paid.

(c) Prohibited advertising or promo-
tional allowances, etc. It is an unfair
trade practice for any member of the in-
dustry engaged in commerce to pay or
contract for the payment of advertising
or promotional allowances or any other
thing of value to or for the benefit of a
customer of such member in the course
of such commerce as compensation or in
consideration for any services or facili-
ties furnished by or through such cus-
tomer in connection with the processing,
handling, sale, or offering for sale, of any
Products or commodities manufactured,
sold, or offered for sale by such member,
- unless such payment or consideration is
available on proportionally equal terms
to all other customers competing in the
distribution of such products or commod-
ities.

(ad) Prohibited discriminatory services
or facilities. It is an unfair trade prac-
tice for any member of the industry en-
gaged in commerce to discriminate in
favor of one purchaser against another

29

§ 155.16

purchaser or purchasers of a commodity
bought for resale, with or without proce .
essing, by contracting to furnish or fur~
nishing, or by contributing to the
furnishing of, any services or facilities
connected with the processing, handling,
sale, or offering for sale, of such com-
modity so purchased upon terms not ac-
corded to all purchasers on proportion-
ally equal terms.

(e) Inducing or receiving an illegal
discrimination in price. It is an unfair
trade practice for any member of the
industry engaged in commerce in the
course of such commerce, knowingly to
induce or receive a discrimination in
price which is prohibited by the pro-
visions of this section.

(f) Purchases by schools, colleges, unt~
versities, public libraries, churches, hose
pitals and charitable institutions not
operated for profit. The foregoing
provisions of this section relate to prac-
tices within the purview of the Robinson-
Patman Antidiscrimination Act, which
act and the application thereunder of
this section are subject to the limitations
expressed in the amendment to such
Robinson - Patman Antidiscrimination
Act, which amendment was approved
May 26, 1938, and reads as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That nothing
in the Act approved June 18, 1836 (Public,
Numbered 692, Seventy-fourth Congress,
second session), known as the Roblnson-
Patman Antldiscrlmination Act, shall apply
to purchases of their supplies for their own
use by schools, colleges, universities, public
libraries, churches, hospitals, and charitable
institutions not operated for profit.

(Sec, 2, 38 Stat. 780, as amended, secs. 2, 8,
4, 49 Stat. 1527, 1528, ch. 283, 52 Stat. 446;
15 U. S. C. 18, 19a, 13b, 13c, 212)

§ 155.16 “End piece pilfering,’’ false
invoicing, etc.

(a) In the course of or in cone
nection with conduct of business by
any member of the industry involv-
ing the sale of, or contract to furnish,
products of the industry to his customers,
it is an unfair trade practice for any
such member to use the device or scheme
of faise invoicing or of so-called end
Piece pilfering or of any other device or
scheme characterized by deception or
fraud. |


§ 155.101

(b) For purposes of this section, end
piece pilfering shal] mean the pilfering,
purloining, or unauthorized conversion
to his own use, by any member of the
industry, of fabrics or yarn, or pieces
thereof, belonging to his customers and
bailed to such member for dyeing, print-
ing, finishing, bleaching, or other
processing.

Group II
§ 155.101 Repudiation of contracts.

Lawful contracts are business obliga-
tions which should be performed in let-
ter and in spirit. The repudiation of
contracts by sellers on a rising market or
by buyers on a declining market ls con-
demned by the industry.

§ 155.102 Cost records.

It is the judgment of the industry that
each member should independently keep
proper and accurate records for deter-
mining his costs.

§ 155.103 Arbitration.

The industry approves the practice of
handling business disputes between
members of the industry and their cus-
tomers in a fair and reasonable manner,
coupled with a spirit of moderation and
good will, and every effort should be
made by the disputants themselves to
compose their differences. If unable to
do s0, they should, if possible, submit
these disputes to arbitration.

PART 157—-CATALOG JEWELRY AND
GIFTWARE INDUSTRY

Norte: FTC Order File No. 21-515, 22 FR.
4567, June 28, 1957, provides in part that
Part 23 of this chapter supersedes Part 157
with respect only to jewelry items covered
in Part 157.

Group I

Bec.

157.1 Misbranding and misrepresentation.

1572 Passing off inferior sterling silver-
ware as that of superior grade, etc.

157.3 Deceptive pricing.

157.4 Misrepresentation of character of
business,

157.5 Deceptive set-up of disclosed infor-
mation,

157.6 Commercial bribery.

157.7 Imitation of trade-marks, trade
names, etc.

157.88 Combination or coercion to fix
prices, suppress competition, or re-
strain trade.

1579 Discrimination.

30

Title 146—Commercial Practices

Sec,
167.10 Atding or abetting use of unfair
trade practices.
AvTHorITY: The provisions of this Part 157
issued under secs. 6(g), 5, 38 Stat. 722, 719;
15 U.S.C. 46(g), 45, unless otherwise noted.

Source: The provisions of this Part 157
appear at 8 F.R. 17256, Dec. 28, 1943, unlesa
otherwise noted.

Group I

§ 157.1 Misbranding and misrepresenta-
tion. .

(a) The use on any product or article
offered for sale, sold, or distributed of
any marks, brands, or labels which are
false, misleading, or deceptive in respect
of such product or article, or in respect
of the grade, quality, quantity, use, size,
weight, material content, origin, prepa-
ration, manufacturer, or distribution
thereof, or which are false, misleading,
or deceptive in any other respect, is an
unfair trade practice.

(b) It is an unfair trade practice to
make or publish, or cause to be made or
published, in advertisements, catalogs,
bulletins, circulars, or by radio, or in any
other manner, any statement or repre-
senation which is false, misleading, or
deceptive in respect of any product or
article offered for sale, sold, or distrib-
uted, or in respect of the grade, quality,
quantity, use, size, weight, material con-
tent, origin, preparation, manufacture,
or distribution thereof, or which is false,
misleading, or deceptive in any other
respect.

8 157.2 Passing off inferior sterling
silverware as that of superior grade,
etc.

It is an unfair trade practice to pass
off, directly or indirectly, through any
means or device, any sterling silverware
of a certain grade, quality, thickness, or
weight as and for sterling silverware of
superior grade, quality, thickness, or
weight, with the capacity and tendency
or effect of misleading or deceiving pur-
chasers or prospective purchasers.

§ 157.3 Deceptive pricing.

(a) It is an unfair trade practice to
use, in advertisements, catalogs, bul-
letins, circulars, or other printed matter,
distributed to consumers, dealers, pur-
chasing agents, cooperative buying
groups or others, any price marks, price
designations, or so-called prices, or fig-
ures, words, or marks purporting to be