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, consumption, or resale within any place under the jurisdiction of the United States, and are not purchased by schools, colleges, universities, public libraries, churches, hospitals, or charitable institutions not operated for profit, as supplies for their own use;

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

NOTE: Cost justification under the above proviso depends upon net savings in cost based on all facts relevant to the transactions under the terms of subparagraph (2) of this paragraph. For example, if a seller regularly grants a discount based upon the purchase of a specified quantity by a single order for a single delivery, and this discount is justified by cost differences, it does not follow that the same discount can be cost Justified if granted to a purchaser of the same quantity by multiple orders or for multiple deliveries.

(3) That nothing contained in this section shall prevent persons engaged in selling goods, wares, or merchandise in commerce from selecting their own customers in bona fide transactions and not in restraint of trade;

(4) That nothing contained in this paragraph shall prevent price changes from time to time where made in response to changing conditions affecting the market for or the marketability of the goods concerned, such as but not limited to obsolescence of seasonal goods, imminent deterioration of perishable goods, distress sales under court process, or sales in good faith in discontinuance of business in the goods concerned;

(5) That nothing contained in this section shall prevent the meeting in good faith of an equally low price of a competitor, or the services or facilities furnished by a competitor (see paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section).

NOTE: In complaint proceedings, Justification of price differentials under subparagraphs (2), (4) and (5) of this paragraph is a matter of affirmative defense to be established by the person or concern charged with price discrimination.

(b) Price differential practices. The following are examples of price differential practices to be considered as subject to the prohibitions of paragraph (a) of this section when involving goods of like grade and quality which are sold for use, consumption, or resale within any place under the jurisdiction of the United States, and which are not purchased by schools, colleges, universities, public libraries, churches, hospitals, or charitable institutions not operated for profit, as supplies for their own use, and when:

(1) The commerce requirements specified in paragraph (a) of this section are present; and

(2) The price differential has a reasonable probability of substantially lessening competition or tending to create a monopoly in any line of commerce, or of injuring, destroying, or preventing competition with the industry member or with the customer receiving the benefit of the price differential, or with customers of either of them; and

(3) The price differential is not justified by cost savings (see paragraph (a) (2) of this section); and

(4) The price differential is not made in response to changing conditions affecting the market for or the marketability of the goods concerned (see paragraph (a) (4) of this section); and

(5) The lower price was not made to meet in good faith an equally low price of a competitor (see paragraph (a) (5) of this section).

Example No. I. At the end of a given period an industry member grants a discount to a customer equivalent to a fixed percentage of the total of the customer's purchases during such period and fails to grant such discount to other customers under like conditions.

Example No. II. An industry member sells goods to one or more of his customers at a higher price than he charges other customers for like merchandise. It is immaterial whether or not such discrimination is accomplished by misrepresentation as to the grade and quality of the products sold.

Example No. III. An industry member makes a sale of industry products to a purchaser under an arrangement whereby the products are shipped by the industry member's supplier directly to such purchaser and charges a lower price than that charged

other purchasers under similar circumstances, or a price which, when compared with the price charged purchasers on sales made out of the stock of the industry member, constitutes a discount greater than can be justified by the difference in costs resulting from the differing quantities or method of sale or delivery.

Example No. IV. An industry member sells to some customers industry products at prices of drop shipments when in fact such transactions are out-of-stock sales which are made to other customers at higher prices, even though the quantities involved are large enough to be delivered on a direct shipment basis. (As here used an "out-ofstock" sale is one from the industry member's stock on hand and a "drop shipment" sale is one in which the industry member arranges to have the goods shipped by the industry member's supplier directly to the industry member's customer.)

Example No. V. Terms of 2 percent 10 days are granted by an industry member to some customers on goods purchased by them from the industry member. Another customer or customers are, nevertheless, allowed to take a 5 percent instead of a 2 percent discount when making payment to the industry member within the time prescribed.

(c) Prohibited brokerage and commissions. It is an unfair trade practice for any member of the industry engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, to pay or grant, or to receive or accept, anything of value as a commission, 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 intermediary therein where such intermediary is acting in fact for or in behalf, or is subject 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.

(d) Prohibited advertising or promotional allowances, etc. It is an unfair trade practice for any member of the industry engaged in commerce to pay or contract for the payment of advertising or promotional allowances of 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 facilities 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 commodities.

(e) Prohibited discriminatory services or facilities. It is an unfair trade practice for any member of the industry engaged in commerce to discriminate in favor of one purchaser against another purchaser or purchasers of a commodity bought for resale, with or without processing, by contracting to furnish or furnishing, or by contributing to the furnishing of, any services or facilities connected with the processing, handling, sale, or offering for sale of such commodity so purchased upon terms not accorded to all competing purchasers on proportionally equal terms.

(f) 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 foregoing provisions of this section.

NOTE: The foregoing paragraph (f) of this section is a restatement of section 2 (f) of the Clayton Act as amended. In a complaint proceeding under this section, in order to make out a prima facie violation, the Commission must show that the favored buyer induced or received the lower price knowing, or knowing facts from which he should have known, that such price was violative of section 2 (a) of said act and not justified under paragraph (a) (2), (4) or (5) of this section. When, in any such proceeding, the issue is limited to the question of whether the price differential involved made only due allowance for differences in cost of manufacture, sale, or delivery resulting from the differing methods or quantities in which the goods were sold and delivered, the Commission may establish a prima facie case in a number of ways, including:

(1) By showing that the buyer paying the lower price knew that the methods by, and quantities in, which the goods were sold and delivered to him by the seller, were the same as in the case of the competing buyer or buyers paying the higher price or prices;

or

(2) By showing, when there is a difference in the methods or quantities in which the goods were sold and delivered by the seller to the buyer than in the case of the competing buyer or buyers paying the higher price or prices, that the buyer paying the lower price or prices knew the nature and extent of such differences and knew or should have known that they could not have resulted in sufficient cost savings of the kind and character specified as to justify the price differential.

§ 19.7 Substitution of products.

The practice of shipping or delivering products which do not conform to samples submitted, to specifications upon which the sale is consummated, or to representations made prior to securing the order, without advising the purchasers as to said substitution and obtaining their consent thereto at or before the time of shipment or delivery, is an unfair trade practice.

NOTE: Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the application of such tolerances as are agreed upon between buyer and seller or are otherwise deemed reasonable and proper and where no misrepresentation or deception of the purchasing public is practiced or promoted in relation to the product or its deviation from samples or specifications.

§ 19.8 Deceptive use of trade or corporate name, trademarks, etc.

The use of any trade name, corporate name, trademark, or other trade designation which has the capacity and tendency or effect of misleading or deceiving the purchasing or consuming public as to the name, nature, or origin of any product of the industry, or of any material used therein, or which is false or misleading in any other respect, is an unfair trade practice.

dustry member to solicit the business of a customer of a competing industry member; nor is the section to be construed as in any wise authorizing any agreement, understanding, or planned common course of action by two or more industry members not to solicit business from the customers of either of them, or from customers of any other industry member. § 19.10 Defamation of competitors or false disparagement of their products. It is an unfair trade practice

(a) To defame competitors by falsely imputing to them dishonorable conduct, inability to perform contracts, questionable credit standing, or by other false representations; or

(b) To falsely disparage a competitor's products, business methods, selling prices, values, credit terms, policies, or services.

§ 19.11 Commercial bribery.

It is an unfair trade practice for a member of the industry, directly or indirectly, to give, or offer to give, or permit or cause to be given, money or anything of value to agents, employees, or representatives of customers or prospective customers, or to agents, employees, or representatives of competitors' customers or prospective customers, without the knowledge of their employers or principals, as an inducement to influence their employers or principals to purchase or contract to purchase products manufactured or sold by such industry member or the make of such gift or offer, or to influence such employers or principals to refrain from dealing in the products of competitors or from dealing or contracting to deal with competitors.

§ 19.12 Procurement of competitors' confidential information.

It is an unfair trade practice for any member of the industry to obtain information concerning the business of a competitor by bribery of an employee or agent of such competitor, by false or misleading statements or representations, by the impersonation of one in authority, or by any other unfair means, and to use the information so obtained in such manner as to injure said competitor in his business or to suppress competition or unreasonably restrain trade.

§ 19.13 Prohibited forms of trade restraints (unlawful price fixing, etc.)1

It is an unfair trade practice for any member of the industry, either directly or indirectly, to engage in any planned common course of action, or to enter into or take part in any understanding, agreement, combination, or conspiracy, with one or more members of the industry, or with any other person or persons, to fix or maintain the price of any goods

or

otherwise unlawfully to restrain trade; or to use any form of threat, intimidation, or coercion to induce any member of the industry or other person or persons to engage in any such planned common course of action, or to become a party to any such understanding, agreement, combination, or conspiracy.

§ 19.14 Enticing away employees of competitors.

Knowingly enticing away employees or sales representatives of competitors under any circumstances having the capacity and tendency or effect of substantially injuring or lessening present or potential competition is an unfair trade practice: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting employees from seeking more favorable employment, or as prohibiting employers from hiring or offering employment to employees of competitors in good faith and not for the purpose of injuring, destroying, or preventing competition.

The inhibitions of this section are subJect to Public Law 542. approved July 14, 1952-66 Stat. 632 (the McGuire Act) which provides that with respect to a commodity which bears, or the label or container of which bears, the trade-mark. brand, or name of the producer or distributor of such commodity and which is in free and open competition with commodities of the same general class produced or distributed by others, a seller of such a commodity may enter into a contract or agreement with a buyer thereof which establishes a minimum or stipulated price at which such commodity may be resold by such buyer when such contract or agreement is lawful as applied to intrastate transactions under the laws of the State, Territory, or territorial jurisdiction in which the resale is to be made or to which the commodity is to be transported for such resale, and when such contract or agreement is not between manufacturers, or between wholesalers, or between brokers, or between factors, or between retallers, or between persons, firms, or corporations in competition with each other.

§ 19.15 Misrepresenting products as conforming to standard.

Representing, through advertising, personal solicitation, or otherwise, that any product of the industry conforms to a standard recognized in or applicable to the industry when such is not the fact, is an unfair trade practice.

§ 19.16 Push money.

It is an unfair trade practice for any industry member to pay or contract to pay anything of value to a salesperson employed by a customer of the industry member, as compensation for, or as an inducement to obtain, special or greater effort or service on the part of the salesperson in promoting the resale of products supplied by the industry member to the customer:

(a) When the agreement or understanding under which the payment or payments are made or are to be made is without the knowledge and consent of the salesperson's employer; or

(b) When the terms and conditions of the agreement or understanding are such that any benefit to the salesperson or customer is dependent on lottery or chance; or

(c) When any provision of the agreement or understanding requires or contemplates practices or a course of conduct unduly and intentionally hampering sales of products of competitors of an industry member; or

(d) When, because of the terms and conditions of the understanding or agreement, including its duration, or the attendant circumstances, the effect may be to substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly; or

(e) When similar payments are not accorded to salespersons of competing customers on proportionally equal terms in compliance with sections 2 (d) and (e) of the Clayton Act.

NOTE: Payments made by an industry member to a salesperson of a customer under any agreement or understanding that all or any part of such payments is to be transferred by the salesperson to the customer, or is to result in a corresponding decrease in the salesperson's salary, are not to be considered within the purview of this section, but are to be considered as subject to the requirements and provisions of section 2 (a) of the Clayton Act.

§19.17 Aiding or abetting use of unfair trade practices.

It is an unfair trade practice for any person, firm, or corporation to aid, abet,

§ 20.3

Use of false or deceptive selling methods, etc.

The use of false or deceptive selling methods which have the tendency and capacity or effect of misleading or deceiving the purchasing or consuming public is an unfair trade practice.

§ 20.4 Misuse of terms "close-outs," "obsolete items," "discontinued lines," etc.

It is an unfair trade practice to advertise, describe or otherwise represent regular lines of merchandise as "closeouts," "obsolete items," "discontinued lines," or by words or representations of similar import, when such are not true in fact; or to so advertise, describe or otherwise represent merchandise where the capacity and tendency or effect thereof is to lead the purchasing or consuming public to believe such merchandise is being offered for sale and sold at greatly reduced prices or at so-called "bargain" prices, when such is not the fact.