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Analysis Of The Ftc Line Of Business And Corporate Patterns Reports Litigation, Douglas P. Whipple

Cleveland State Law Review

Under the auspices of the information gathering authority granted to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Commission has developed two corporate report programs entitled "The Line of Business [LB] Report Program" and "The Corporate Patterns Report [CPR] Program." These broad-based statistical surveys solicit from domestic corporations information on financial performance, value of shipments, net manufacturing activities, and significant acquisitions and disposals. The LB and CPR survey orders were issued to hundreds of corporations, mostly giant conglomerates. Predictably, the corporations resisted the report requirements. The inevitable result of this dispute over the LB and CPR …