Perloff v. Federal Trade Commission
| Decision Date | 23 February 1945 |
| Docket Number | No. 8466.,8466. |
| Citation | 150 F.2d 757 |
| Parties | PERLOFF et al. v. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Everett Sanders, of Washington, D. C. (Edward F. Howrey, L. A. Gravelle, and Douglas Whitlock, all of Washington, D. C., on the brief), for petitioners.
Donovan R. Divet, of Washington, D. C. (W. T. Kelley, Chief Counsel, Federal Trade Commission, and Joseph J. Smith, Jr., Asst. Chief Counsel, both of Washington, D. C., on the brief), for respondent.
Before GOODRICH and McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judges, and KIRKPATRICK, District Judge.
This matter concerns a petition to review and set aside a cease and desist order of the Federal Trade Commission which prohibits the petitioners from using any trade name containing the word "Packing" in connection with products not packed by them.
The petitioners are wholesale grocers, with their principal office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and three branches in Chester, Wilkes-Barre and Shenandoah, all in Pennsylvania. They sell only to retailers and not to consumers direct. They have been engaged in the wholesale business of canned foods in commerce since 1922. Three to three and one-half per cent of their business is interstate. They themselves, pack and distribute certain dried food. They do not own or operate any canneries. Their practice on canned foods is to purchase such products from canners. Labels for the goods are furnished the canners by the petitioners and affixed to the containers for the goods by the canners. On some of those labels, petitioners use the name "Atlantic Packing Company, Distributors."
The Commission found that name to be erroneous and misleading as applied to those items which the petitioners do not pack, as the word "Packing" in the name constitutes a representation that such items are packed by petitioners. It also found that there is a preference on the part of a substantial number of dealers for dealing with packers direct, rather than with concerns which do not pack their products but are merely distributors. Further, that the use of the name has the tendency and capacity to mislead and deceive a substantial number of dealers with respect to petitioners' business status and the origin of petitioners' products, and the tendency and capacity to cause such dealers to purchase petitioners' products as the result of the erroneous and mistaken belief so engendered. In consequence thereof, that substantial trade has been diverted unfairly to the petitioners from their competitors, among whom are those who do not misrepresent their business status or the origin of their products. As a result, the Commission concluded that:
"The acts and practices of the respondents petitioners here as herein found are all to the prejudice of the public and of respondents' competitors and constitute unfair methods of competition in commerce and unfair and deceptive acts and practices in commerce within the intent and meaning of the Federal Trade Commission Act." 15 U.S.C.A. § 41 et seq.
A total of ten witnesses testified at the Commission hearing. Three of these were connected with the petitioners. There were three consumer witnesses; all of them housewives. The other four were wholesale grocers. One of the consumers, Mrs. Freda Bruck, thought the label "Atlantic Packing Company" was "the company that packs and distributes." She would prefer to buy direct from packers if that could be done, because it is cheaper. The next housewife thought the label She said, Both this witness and Mrs. Freda Bruck, on cross examination, said that they expected to pay retail prices in retail stores.
The first wholesaler witness on being shown one of the labels in question, thought at first, that "Atlantic" was the packer; then, seeing the word "Distributors," said that "Atlantic" was the distributor, not the packer. He thought the public would be deceived by the label. The second wholesaler, shown the label, stated he "would say that Atlantic was the distributor, not the packer." He did not think the public would understand the label. The third wholesaler, from the label, assumed that "Atlantic" was the packer, or packer and distributor. The last such witness preferred to buy from packers, as having more responsibility than "* * * the dealer from whom you buy it second hand." Examining one of the labels he said that from the word "Distributors" he would assume that "Atlantic" had not packed the goods.
Copies of three of the labels in evidence are printed in the record. In all three, the name "Atlantic Packing Company" is on a line by itself and in larger type than the word "Distributors" which appears beneath it. There is testimony by Earl Perloff, one of the petitioners, that they now put the word "Distributors" in as large type as "Atlantic Packing Company."
As seen, all three consumer witnesses and two of the four wholesalers affirmatively support the Commission's finding that the name "Atlantic Packing Company" is erroneous and misleading as applied to those items which the petitioners do not pack. In addition, the labels speak for themselves. As used, it can be reasonably implied that the particular goods so labeled have been at least packed by the company. This is not negatived by the word "Distributors" on the line below, whether the latter word is in the same or in smaller type than the name of the company. Packing and distributing are two different, but not inconsistent activities. The business of the petitioners themselves shows that a concern may engage in either or in both. The characterization of a "Packing" company as a distributor is not a representation that it is not a packer. This is again indicated by the practice of the petitioners who both pack and distribute certain dried foods which carry the same type of label as the canned or bottled goods not packed by the petitioners.
The petitioners urge that the label is in accord with the pertinent Federal Food and Drug Act regulation.1 There is no evidence in the record of approval of the label by any authority whatsoever under the Food and Drug Act. From a reading of Regulations (a) and (d) under Section 343, it is most questionable that the label legend is a proper one under that Act. Regulation (a), quoted in the footnote, provides that where the food is not manufactured by the person whose name appears on the label, the name shall be qualified by a phrase which reveals the connection such person had with such food, such as "Manufactured for and packed by * * *;" "Distributed by . . .," or other similar phrase which expresses the facts; and (d) expressly states that...
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