Law Commons^™

Consumer Credit In The Ghetto: Ucc Free Entry Provisions And The Federal Trade Commission Study (Business In The Ghetto), James J. White

Other Publications

Like the former speakers, I will not speak on the topic for which I was scheduled. Instead I am going to talk about two things which are not closely related to one another but which are both related to the profitability of the retail sale of goods and credit in the ghetto. I propose to leave the law on consumer credit to Mr. Dostert and Professor Hogan. First I wish to say a word on the so-called "free entry" aspects of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code; then I will comment on the Federal Trade Commission study.

Restraint Of Trade--Trading Stamps--The Federal Trade Commission And The Green Stamp: The Effect Upon Competition Of Restrictions On Distribution And Redemption Of Trading Stamps, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Sperry and Hutchinson Company (S & H), the largest trading stamp company in the United States, has maintained two policies throughout its seventy-two years of business. The one-for-ten policy requires retailers licensed by S & H to issue stamps to consumers at the rate of one stamp for every ten cents worth of merchandise purchased. The intent of this policy is to prevent retailers from engaging in "multiple stamping"-the practice of giving more than one stamp for every ten-cent purchase. This restricted rate of issuance is maintained through contractual agreements between the stamp company and its licensees. The second policy …

Cease And Desist: The History, Effect, And Scope Of Clayton Act Orders Of The Federal Trade Commission, Thomas E. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

A cease and desist order is not entered in a vacuum. What an order should say or require depends upon the effect which the order is to have. A substantial portion of the present study is therefore concerned with the array of effects which may result from the order's entry, and with the relationship between those effects and the order itself. Not all of the detailed discussion of enforcement procedures which follows may seem directly relevant to the content of the FTC's orders. There are important unresolved issues within the enforcement procedures themselves which warrant examination for their own sake …

The Ftc's Power To Seek Preliminary Injunctions In Anti-Merger Cases, James H. Cohen

Michigan Law Review

This Comment will examine the bases and the implications of the Supreme Court's holding. It will point out a number of problems raised by granting the FTC this remedial power, and will suggest that the situations in which preliminary injunctions may be obtained from a court of appeals should be strictly limited.

Divestiture Of Illegally Held Assets: Observations On Its Scope, Objective, And Limitations, William T. Kerr

Michigan Law Review

"Divestiture has been called the most important of antitrust remedies. It is simple, relatively easy to administer, and sure." This observation was made with reference to an order requiring divestiture of illegally held stock. In the context of the divestiture of illegally held assets, however, the statement is an oversimplification of myriad complex problems. This Comment will examine the difficulties encountered in eliminating the anticompetitive effects of a fully consummated merger found to have violated section 7 of the Clayton Act. No attempt will be made to assess the substantive doctrine upon which the violation in any instance was based, …

Federal Trade Commission Proceedings And Section 5 Of The Clayton Act: Application And Implications, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Although the primary responsibility for the enforcement of the antitrust laws falls upon governmental agencies, Congress has recognized the effectiveness of the private suit for damages as a deterrent and has sought to encourage such actions by providing for the recovery of treble damages by an injured party. To assist the private litigant, whose problem of proof is formidable, Congress enacted section 5(a) of the Clayton Act, which allows the introduction, as prima facie evidence of an antitrust violation, of a prior judgment or decree obtained by the Government. As a further aid to private litigants, section 5(b) provides for …

Ftc V. Jantzen: Blessing, Disaster, Or Tempest In A Teapot?, Thomas E. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

The court concluded that the Finality Act, by repealing the existing provisions for judicial enforcement proceedings in the courts of appeals, deprived it of jurisdiction to act upon the FTC's petition. It also approved earlier decisions holding that the Finality Act procedures were not applicable to orders issued prior to the act's effective date. These two rulings, in combination, indicate that there is no enforcement machinery now applicable to orders issued under the Clayton Act prior to July 23, 1959.

The question remains, however, whether enforcement of the Clayton Act has really been hampered, and, if so, whether the pre- …

Words "Civil Or Criminal" In Clayton Act Section 5 Do Not Include Federal Trade Commission Proceedings-Highland Supply Corp. V. Reynolds Metals Co., Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In a private antitrust action for treble damages filed in 1963, plaintiff referred in its complaint to a Federal Trade Commission proceeding brought against the defendant in 1957, which had resulted in a final divestiture order. Defendant moved to strike these references in the complaint on the ground that section 5(a) of the Clayton Act, which authorizes private parties to utilize a government "judgment or decree . . . rendered in any civil or criminal proceeding" as prima facie evidence in subsequent treble damage suits, does not include a Federal Trade Commission proceeding. Defendant also moved to dismiss the …

Rowe: Price Discrimination Under The Robinson-Patman Act, Glen E. Weston

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Price Discrimination Under the Robinson-Patman Act, By Frederick M. Rowe.

Federal Trade Commission-Adjudicatory Proceedings-Receipt Of Evidence In Camera, Peter W. Williamson

Michigan Law Review

During an adjudicatory hearing pursuant to a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission, counsel for the Commission offered as evidence some confidential documents subpoenaed from respondent. The hearing examiner, on his own motion, ordered all confidential documents placed in camera. Counsel for the FTC objected to the order and filed an interlocutory appeal to the Commission. On the interlocutory appeal, held, error in part. Because these documents do not contain highly secret business information they must appear on the public transcript, unless tendered to the Commission and obtained subject to an express stipulation that, if offered in …

Removal Of Judicial Functions From Federal Trade Commission To A Trade Court: A Reply To Mr. Kintner, Raoul Berger

Michigan Law Review

Not long ago, Attorney General Rogers stated that, "The entire field of administrative law and of Government regulation may require a searching re-examination of some of the premises on which we have based our conclusions." What lifts this utterance to the level of "man bites dog" is that the Attorney General almost alone among federal administrators does not insist that the administrative process, in major outline, is forever frozen. The orthodox administrative view is exemplified by Mr. Earl W. Kintner's (formerly General Counsel and now Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission) numerous strictures upon the American Bar Association proposal that …

Regulation Of Business-Discriminatory Practices In The Form Of Advertising Allowances, Services, And Facilities Under The Robinson-Patman Act, Rinaldo L. Bianchi

Michigan Law Review

This comment will deal solely with the last two forms of discrimination prohibited by sections 2(d) and (e) of the Robinson-Patman Act, and will attempt to illustrate the present state of the law and offer a possible alternative construction and method of implementation of these sections. A recent ruling of the FTC in a group of cases appears to be significant with respect to controversial aspects of sections 2(d) and (e), and indicative of the present attitude of the Commission in the search for an adequate standard by which honest businessmen may keep within the confines of the law. These …

Federal Antitrust Legislation: Guideposts To A Revised National Antitrust Policy, S. Chesterfield Oppenheim

Michigan Law Review

The year 1952 finds various currents of controversy in the antitrust field converging toward the necessity for a survey and reappraisal of the body of congressional legislation generally known as the "federal antitrust laws." The foundation stone in the trio of principal antitrust statutes is the Sherman Act of 1890. Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Clayton Act of 1914, as amended, are the other two members of this major group of antimonopoly laws. While differing in particulars in its impact upon the American economy, each of these basic statutes is avowedly designed to maintain competition …

A Critique Of The New British Monopoly Act, Gerald M. Meier

Michigan Law Review

In 1948 the British Parliament passed the Monopoly and Restrictive Practices (Inquiry and Control) Act. It is instructive to examine this Act against the background of the criticisms and suggestions for improvement which have emerged with sixty years of American anti-trust legislation. Section one of this paper presents some reasons why the measure has appeared at this time. The next section summarizes the Act's provisions. Section three contrasts the British technique of monopoly control with the American and considers whether the different approach is likely to avoid the debilities which have become evident in the American legislation.

Delivered Prices: Doing Business Under The Present Law, Corwin D. Edwards

Michigan Law Review

What is involved in doing business under the present law concerning delivered prices? Since the ease or difficulty of doing business in accord with the law depends upon what the law permits and prohibits, to answer this question requires an assumption about what the law is. I shall assume that the scope of legally permissible action is that envisaged in the statement which the Federal Trade Commission issued to its staff and released to the public last October 12. This statement says, in effect, that businessmen are not required to sell f.o.b. mill or to adopt any particular form of …

Trade Regulations-Deceptive Practices, Earl R. Boonstra

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, an importer, distributed catalogs among some 25,000 retailers describing his porcelain line as follows: "IMPORTED Hand Decorated 'Du Barry' Porcelain," and " 'Du BARRY' Porcelain table lamps are nationally famous as reproductions of rare, original French and English 'old pieces.'" The Federal Trade Commission found that the advertising impliedly represented that the origin was French or British, whereas the products were made in Japan. A cease and desist order was issued prohibiting use of the legend, "Imported-Du Barry,'' or any other legend suggesting French origin, without clearly disclosing the fact of import from Japan. Held, affirmed. The order …

Price Discriminations And Their Justifications Under The Robinson-Patman Act Of 1936, John T. Haslett

Michigan Law Review

The Robinson-Patman Act was approved by the President on June 19, 1936. The purpose of the act was to amend section 2 of the Clayton Act, which prohibited price discriminations in interstate commerce. Congress, by amending section 2 of the Clayton Act, broadened the scope of the section by extending its purposes and prohibitions to price discriminations not formerly covered and by prohibiting other forms of discrimination which give favored purchasers undue cost advantages over their non-favored competitors. It also reduced the extent of requisite competitive injury.

Administrative Law-The Choice Of Remedy-Modification Of Administrative Order By Court, John W. Potter S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Federal Trade Commission in proceedings under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act found, inter alia, that petitioner, a manufacturer of overcoats, used a deceptive and misleading trade name, Alpacuna, which induced the erroneous belief that its coats contained vicuna. The commission issued a cease and desist order banning the use of the word Alpacuna to describe petitioner's coats. The circuit court of appeals found that the commission's findings were supported by substantial evidence, but felt that the remedy was unduly harsh because of the fact that the public interest could have been adequately protected by using qualifying …

Unfair Competition- Unlawful Trade Practices -Michigan Statute - Misleading Practices By ''Wholesale Sellers", Jay W. Sorge

Michigan Law Review

During recent years "phony" wholesalers have been defrauding the public by selling merchandise at "wholesale" prices which are actually higher than the retail prices of the same articles. These sales are made by three methods: (a) through the use of open showrooms, in which the articles are displayed as they would be at a wholesale house, although the actual business carried on is with individuals; (b) by distributing courtesy cards entitling the bearer to discounts at certain retail or wholesale houses, and (c) by sending out to members of organizations or to individuals catalogs which advertise standard brands at low …

Trade Restraints - Associations Of Manufacturers To Combat Style Piracy - Illegal Restraints Of Trade, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In order to combat the practice of "style piracy" among competitors, a large number of producers of women's coats and dresses formed an association, whose membership was composed of designers, manufacturers, and distributors. Producers adjudged copyists by the association were not permitted membership. The clear purpose of the association was primarily to boycott retailers who refused to deal solely with members of the association, and secondarily to boycott, and eliminate competition from, the copyists. In addition there was provided a system of registration for designs made by members, and a judicial type of machinery for protecting the designers' interest therein. …

Constitutional Law - Power To Enact Federal Securities Act Of 1933

Michigan Law Review

The scope and implications of the Securities Act of 1933 have been set out in a recent issue of this Review. Broadly, the Act regulates the issue and sale of securities by requiring registration thereof with the Federal Trade Commission, by specifying certain data to be included in prospectuses relating to such securities, and by imposing sanctions in the form of penal and civil liabilities. The Act purports to be an exercise of the Congressional power "to regulate . . . commerce among the several states" and "to establish post offices and post roads." Various constitutional questions are involved but …

The New Federal Securities Act, John E. Tracy

Michigan Law Review

A proper understanding of the purposes of this new Act and the reasons for its enactment can probably best be obtained by a short discussion of the manner in which the sale of securities has been regulated prior to this time.