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Consumer Protection Law Commons™

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University of Michigan Law School

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Articles 151 - 170 of 170

Full-Text Articles in Consumer Protection Law

The Contractual Aspect Of Consumer Protection: Recent Developments In The Law Of Sales Warranties, William C. Pelster May 1966

The Contractual Aspect Of Consumer Protection: Recent Developments In The Law Of Sales Warranties, William C. Pelster

Michigan Law Review

As might have been expected, the courts have not confined their efforts in updating the law of products liability to fostering innovations in that segment dealing with warranties. The struggle to impose strict tort liability upon a manufacturer for harm caused by his defective products has made significant advances and is continuing: However, the citadel has yet to be taken. Indeed, even the California Supreme Court, which may be considered the leading proponent of this strict tort theory, has limited its availability so that only those seeking redress for harm to person or property may invoke the doctrine; thus, a …

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Foreword, Frank R. Kennedy May 1966

Foreword, Frank R. Kennedy

Michigan Law Review

As will be evident by the time this symposium on consumer protection appears in print, not all the proposals that have been made on behalf of the consumer will pass this year; some, perhaps, will never be enacted in anything like their present form. However, both opponents and proponents of this spate of legislative proposals should recognize the timeliness and importance of the discussions presented in this issue of the Michigan Law Review.

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Industrial Self-Regulation And The Public Interest, Harper W. Boyd Jr., Henry Claycamp May 1966

Industrial Self-Regulation And The Public Interest, Harper W. Boyd Jr., Henry Claycamp

Michigan Law Review

As the affluence of the American society grows, a concern about such matters as health, education, and welfare has also become more apparent. Some concern derives from technological breakthroughs which require control, such as the development of aircraft for mass transportation. In other cases, increased recognition of serious threats to public health and safety has led various groups of aroused citizens to advocate governmental control. Today, growing numbers of individuals and organizations believe that the consumer's health and safety are not being adequately protected in at least two areas-cigarettes and automobiles. Thus, the following discussion is directed to the vital …

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Representing The Consumer Interest In The Federal Government, Esther Peterson May 1966

Representing The Consumer Interest In The Federal Government, Esther Peterson

Michigan Law Review

In 1964 President Johnson established both the President's Committee on Consumer Interests and the position of Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs. The President declared that he was "taking action to assure that the .voice of the consumer will be loud, clear, uncompromising, and effective in the highest councils of the Federal Government." Never before had the consumer been expressly represented on so high a level. The Committee on Consumer Interests was given a unique task. "The value of our society," the President said, "cannot be measured in the mass, but in the condition of each individual." The …

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Products Liability--Some Observations About Allocation Of Risks, Page Keeton May 1966

Products Liability--Some Observations About Allocation Of Risks, Page Keeton

Michigan Law Review

Virtually all of the activities of mankind involve the use of some product. Consequently, nearly all losses in the nature of physical damage to persons or things, and a great deal of the economic losses flowing from inferior or unfit products, are factually caused by characteristics or conditions of products, or at least occur during the use of products. Therefore, when fault, in the sense in which fault has been used in the Anglo-American law of torts (a usage which frequently results in the imposition of liability without personal fault), is abandoned as a basis for shifting or allocating losses, …

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Government And The Consumer, Richard J. Barber May 1966

Government And The Consumer, Richard J. Barber

Michigan Law Review

This article takes up four major topics. First, the principal characteristics of governmental action with respect to consumer protection are reviewed, with emphasis on developments during the past thirty years. Second, the traditional pleas for consumer protection are examined with a view toward determining the inadequacies in governmental action. Third, the problems of the consumer are studied in the context of oligopolistic industrial markets in which nonprice competition accentuates the place of advertising and severely restricts the dissemination of factual information that is essential to enlightened purchase decisions. Fourth, the ingredients of a meaningful consumer protection program are outlined and …

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Federal Trade Commission Regulation Of Advertising, Earl W. Kintner May 1966

Federal Trade Commission Regulation Of Advertising, Earl W. Kintner

Michigan Law Review

The success of an economic democracy, no less than that of a political democracy, depends upon informed, intelligent choice. Thus, the widespread dissemination of information with respect to alternatives is imperative; otherwise, choices would be made in a vacuum and would become meaningless, if not plainly capricious. However, there is no paucity of information in our contemporary society; the so-called "mass media" ensure that. Indeed, modern man can hardly escape, even if he should so desire, the constant bombardment of information from television, radio, newspapers, billboards, and other sources.

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Can Federal Legislation Affecting Consumers' Economic Interests Be Enacted?, Philip A. Hart May 1966

Can Federal Legislation Affecting Consumers' Economic Interests Be Enacted?, Philip A. Hart

Michigan Law Review

Assume there is a definite need for legislation which centers on the economic-not the health or safety-interests of consumers. Can such a bill be enacted? If history, as Francis Bacon claims, does indeed "make a man wise," then a wise man would not even advocate such a bill, no matter how persuasive the evidence. Although government exists to protect the public interest, a look at history shows that the public--or the consumer-generally has not fared as well as many other special interests.

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Disclosure Of Finance Charges: A Rationale, Robert L. Jordan, William D. Warren May 1966

Disclosure Of Finance Charges: A Rationale, Robert L. Jordan, William D. Warren

Michigan Law Review

One wonders whether in all of the talk generated about disclosure in the past few years the purposes of disclosing finance charges to consumers have not been somewhat obscured. This article is an attempt to examine the subject of disclosure from the standpoint of the function it performs in consumer credit transactions. We shall discuss the various methods of computing finance charges in the different segments of the finance industry, the functions of disclosure of finance charges and the feasibility of using different computational methods in each category of consumer transactions. The problems involved in requiring the disclosure of finance …

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Products Liability Based Upon Violation Of Statutory Standards, Joseph H. Ballway Jr. May 1966

Products Liability Based Upon Violation Of Statutory Standards, Joseph H. Ballway Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Regulatory enactments controlling production and distribution can give rise in several different ways to civil liability on behalf of persons injured by non-conforming merchandise. For instance, if a statute codifies existing common-law rules of negligence, its effect is merely to place the weight of legislative authority behind ordinary negligence principles. Since an injured party's recovery under such a provision still depends largely upon his proving in the traditional manner that a defendant failed to exercise due care, this kind of statute merits no further discussion. On the other hand, if particular legislation expressly states that a violator may be subjected …

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Products Liability--The Expansion Of Fraud, Negligence, And Strict Tort Liability, John A. Sebert Jr. May 1966

Products Liability--The Expansion Of Fraud, Negligence, And Strict Tort Liability, John A. Sebert Jr.

Michigan Law Review

While judicial acceptance of this concept of strict tort liability has been proceeding apace, far less dramatic but equally significant developments have been occurring with respect to both negligence and fraud liability. The possibility of recovering for a seller's misrepresentations concerning his product has been enhanced by a plaintiff-oriented judicial redefinition of two elements of a cause of action for fraud: defendant's knowledge of the falsity of his representation and plaintiff's reliance upon the deception. At the same time, negligence liability has often come to resemble liability without fault as courts continue to deemphasize, as a prerequisite to the application …

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Antitrust And The Consumer Interest, Kenneth S. Carlston, James M. Treece Mar 1966

Antitrust And The Consumer Interest, Kenneth S. Carlston, James M. Treece

Michigan Law Review

Public control of business in the United States has proceeded, in most sectors of the economy, on the assumption that free, open competition in the market should be the primary regulator. It is felt that consumer welfare will be maximized by such an organization of the economy. Courts, governmental agencies, and, to a certain extent, private agencies have performed the role of ensuring that free markets are not displaced by other, less desirable alternatives.

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In Personam Jurisdiction Over Nonresident Manufacturers In Product Liability Actions, Harry B. Cummins Apr 1965

In Personam Jurisdiction Over Nonresident Manufacturers In Product Liability Actions, Harry B. Cummins

Michigan Law Review

A wide divergence of opinion exists regarding the wisdom as well as the constitutionality of extensive jurisdiction through the use of liberally drafted and construed "long-arm" statutes. Hesitance may result from a fear of burdening a defendant with the inconvenience and expense of a foreign suit brought against him solely for the purpose of harassment. While this comment does not advocate the extent to which a court should assert the jurisdictional powers conferred on it by a given "long-arm" provision, it examines the scope of jurisdiction constitutionally permissible over nonresident manufacturers in product liability cases with a view toward formulating …

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Tying Arrangements Under The Antitrust Laws: The "Integrity Of The Product" Defense, F. Bruce Kulp Jr. Jun 1964

Tying Arrangements Under The Antitrust Laws: The "Integrity Of The Product" Defense, F. Bruce Kulp Jr.

Michigan Law Review

One of the most frequently asserted defenses to an action under either the Sherman Act or the Clayton Act against a tying arrangement-a contractual limitation imposed by a manufacturer whereby the purchaser of the "tying product" agrees to purchase a related "tied product" only from the manufacturer of the tying product-has been that the tying was necessary to protect the good will or the integrity of the tying product. Whether the tied product is service for the tying product, another component in a system in which the tying product is used, repair parts for the tying product, or any other …

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Usury-Applicability Of State Usury Laws To Installment Sales, John H. Blish May 1964

Usury-Applicability Of State Usury Laws To Installment Sales, John H. Blish

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued a vendor and a finance company to cancel a conditional sales contract and note, for return of payments made, and to obtain an unencumbered certificate of title to a house trailer. The trailer's cash price was 5,000 dollars and plaintiff had paid 1,250 dollars down. Charges of 1,569 dollars were added, making the total time-price 6,569 dollars and leaving a time-balance of 5,319 dollars, payable in sixty monthly installments. The contract and note were immediately assigned to the finance company. Plaintiff based his claim on Nebraska's Installment Loan Act, alleging that the difference between the cash price and …

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Sales - Implied Warranty - Privity Of Contract As A Prerequisite To Recovery From Manufacturer, John L. Peschel S. Ed. Jan 1961

Sales - Implied Warranty - Privity Of Contract As A Prerequisite To Recovery From Manufacturer, John L. Peschel S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sustained injuries in the course of his employment when a defective abrasive wheel, while being used in its intended manner, exploded in his face. The abrasive wheel was purchased by plaintiff's employer directly from the manufacturer. Plaintiff sought recovery from the manufacturer on two grounds: negligence in the manufacture of the abrasive wheel and breach of implied warranty for fitness of purpose. The negligence issue was submitted to the jury, which returned a verdict adverse to the plaintiff. The manufacturer's demurrer to the cause of action based upon implied warranty was sustained by the trial court. On appeal from …

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Insurance - Federal Regulation - Authority Of Federal Trade Commission To Regulate False Advertising By Insurance Companies As Affected By The Mccarran-Ferguson Act, Charles C. Moore S.Ed. Dec 1958

Insurance - Federal Regulation - Authority Of Federal Trade Commission To Regulate False Advertising By Insurance Companies As Affected By The Mccarran-Ferguson Act, Charles C. Moore S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, the FTC, issued cease and desist orders prohibiting respondent health and accident insurance companies, doing business in interstate commerce, from disseminating allegedly false and deceptive advertising through the medium of local agents. These orders, issued pursuant to the FTC act, sought to proscribe such activity both in states that had statutes prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices and in states that did not. The Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Sixth Circuits concluded that the FTC had no authority to regulate such advertising in states which had prohibitory legislation. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, …

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Regulation Of Business - Jurisdiction Of The Civil Aeronautics Board And The Federal Trade Commission - Investigations In The Interest Of The Public, Robert W. Steele S.Ed. Dec 1956

Regulation Of Business - Jurisdiction Of The Civil Aeronautics Board And The Federal Trade Commission - Investigations In The Interest Of The Public, Robert W. Steele S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, American Airlines, filed a memorandum with the Civil Aeronautics Board requesting that respondent's request for registration of the name North American Airlines be denied. Section 411 of the Civil Aeronautics Act provides that the board has the authority to prevent air carriers from engaging in unfair methods of competition in commerce and unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and may issue a complaint against any air carrier when it shall appear to the board that a proceeding by it would be in the interest of the public. The board found that the public was confused as to the origin …

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Torts - Liability Of Supplier Of Chattel - Proof Of Manufacturer's Negligence, Whitmore Gray Apr 1956

Torts - Liability Of Supplier Of Chattel - Proof Of Manufacturer's Negligence, Whitmore Gray

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff service station operator brought an action to recover for injuries resulting from the explosion of one of defendant manufacturer's tires. The tire, while admittedly new, had been purchased by a third party some eighteen months before being brought to the plaintiff for mounting. In addition to his own testimony, the only evidence supporting plaintiff's claim of negligence was expert testimony that such an explosion could be caused by defective wire in the bead when a tire was inflated to normal pressure, and also that there was opportunity for negligence in defendant's manufacturing processes. The district court set aside the …

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Unwary Purchaser, Edward S. Rogers Jun 1910

Unwary Purchaser, Edward S. Rogers

Michigan Law Review

Anyone who has occasion to examine the cases involving trade mark infringement and other forms of unfair trading by the imitation of names, labels, packages and the like, must at once be struck by their irreconcilable conflict. While, of course, the facts in no two cases are alike, this diversity cannot account for the variance in result. The rule of law to be applied is not seriously disputed. The Lord Ordinary's definition of infringement, in Smith v. Carron, 13 R. P. C. 109, III, can hardly be improved upon: "A trade mark is infringed when goods are sent into the …

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