Clairol, Inc. v. Martin Wholesale Distributors, Inc.

35 Pa. D. & C.2d 78, 1964 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 187
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedApril 3, 1964
Docketno. 3697
StatusPublished

This text of 35 Pa. D. & C.2d 78 (Clairol, Inc. v. Martin Wholesale Distributors, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clairol, Inc. v. Martin Wholesale Distributors, Inc., 35 Pa. D. & C.2d 78, 1964 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 187 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1964).

Opinion

Pleadings and Issues

Kelley, J.,

This is an action in equity brought by plaintiff, Clairol, Incorporated, to enjoin defendant, Martin Wholesale Distributors, Inc., [79]*79from selling “professional” bottles of plaintiff’s product to the public. Plaintiff’s theory for relief is that defendant by selling the “professional” bottle, is guilty of unfair competition and that, as a result, plaintiff is likely to suffer irreparable harm by reason of seizure of its product by governmental authorities, customer dissatisfaction and loss of the benefit of its advertising program.

Defendant admits that the goods are sold as alleged but denies that plaintiff is entitled to relief. Alternatively, defendant suggests that it will attach a sheet of instructions to the “professional” bottles sold, contending that this will obviate plaintiff’s objections.

On February 13, 1963, a hearing was held upon plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction, at which time it was ordered that a final hearing on the matter would be conducted on February 18, 1963. After hearing, the court did not grant the injunction prayed for but deferred adjudication.

As a result of the hearings, the court finds as follows:

Findings of Fact

1. Plaintiff, a Delaware corporation with offices in New York City, is engaged in the business of manufacturing, advertising and selling cosmetic products which prominently feature the trade identification “Clairol” in one form or another. These products bear plaintiff’s trademarks which are registered in the office of the Commissioner of Patents in Washington, D. C.

2. Defendant, Martin Wholesale Distributors, Inc., is a Pennsylvania corporation which operates three retail drug stores in Philadelphia at 921 Levick Street, 6838 Bustleton Avenue, and 7301 Frankford Avenue. At each of these three stores defendant sells cosmetics and other products at retail to the general public.

3. Among the items manufactured and sold by plain[80]*80tiff is a line of products known as “Miss Clairol Hair Color Bath” (referred to hereafter as “Miss Clairol”). This line consists of products which are commonly referred to as permanent hair colors, that is, they impart various colors to the user’s hair which will permanently remain in those portions of the hair shaft which have been exposed to them. These products contain derivatives of coal tar dyes.

4 In the past three years, plaintiff has expended over $30,000,000 in advertising its products, including “Miss Clairol”. The latter product has accounted for over $12,000,000 of that advertising over that three-year period. Plaintiff has created a large business, a valuable reputation, and good will in the trade and among the general public under the name “Clairol”.

'5. “Miss Clairol” is manufactured outside of Pennsylvania and is sold and shipped by plaintiff in interstate commerce to purchasers in Pennsylvania.

6. Plaintiff sells, and has traditionally sold, its products, including “Miss Clairol”, to two different channels of trade, i.e. (1) The professional trade consisting of beauty supply jobbers who resell the so-called “professional” bottles to beauty salons for ultimate use by beauticians qualified and licensed to color the hair of beauty salon patrons, chains of beauty salons staffed by qualified and licensed beauticians, and beauty schools for use in the training of such beauticians, all referred to as the “professional trade”; and (2) the retail trade consisting of wholesalers, jobbers, and retailers for ultimate resale to the general public for use by lay consumers at home, hereinafter referred to as the “retail trade”.

7. Plaintiff sells its 2-ounce bottles of “Miss Clairol” to all of its professional trade customers for 36^ each, and to all of its retail trade customers for 67‡ each. This price differentiation has been traditional for “Miss Clairol” since that product’s introduction in [81]*811950 and the substantially lower price for professional merchandise is mandated by plaintiff’s need to meet the competition which exists in the professional trade.

8. “Miss Clairol” is packaged by plaintiff in individual 2-ounce bottles, each of which contains sufficient material for a normal, single, full-head application. Prior to June, 1963, plaintiff sold such bottles of “Miss Clairol” to both the professional and the retail trade in the identical form. Each of the bottles bore the same label, except for the individual shade name and number, and each was enclosed in the same bright yellow carton which contained a printed sheet of instructions.

9. In or about June, 1963, plaintiff inaugurated a differentiation between the packaging of “Miss Clairol” for each of the two classes of trade in the Metropolitan New York area. This differentiation was introduced into the Philadelphia area in November, 1963.

10. The product sold by plaintiff to the retail trade (referred to hereafter as the “retail package”) is packaged in the identical form that previously had been used in both the professional and the retail trade — that is, the bottle, bottle label, carton, and instructional insert have remained the same. However, the product sold by plaintiff to the professional trade (hereinafter referred to as the “professional bottle”) is now packaged differently. The same glass bottle that is sold to the retail trade is used for the professional trade, but the bottle label has been changed, one revision being the inclusion of the following at the top thereof:

“PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY WARNING
Cautionary statements regularly required for sale to non-professionals and instructions essential to the use of this product by non-professionals are not included on bottle labels. Non-professional sale may result in prosecution under federal law.”

[82]*8211. Further, the professional bottles are no longer packed in individual cartons, but rather are placed in a single carton containing six bottles. The outer portion of this carton features on its two main panels the same warning statement quoted in finding 10. Within each such carton of six individual bottles, plaintiff includes a single printed slip which advises the performance of a preliminary patch or skin test on the prospective user for detecting hypersensitivity to coal ■tar dyes and which sets forth the manner in which such a test should be performed. No other instructions for the use of the product are furnished by plaintiff in the packaging of the professional bottle, thus accounting for the warning referred to above. No change has been made in the product itself, the contents of the professional bottle being of a chemical composition exactly the same as the contents of the retail package. Plaintiff does not sell its professional bottles to the retail trade, ■nor its retail packages to the professional trade.

12. By making these package changes, plaintiff realizes substantial savings. Plaintiff, in thus selling to the professional trade, is able to eliminate the cost of packing each bottle in an individual carton and of •enclosing with it a separate instructional insert, neither of which serves an important function for that trade. These cost savings of 1.2 cents per bottle will amount to $200,000 to $300,000 per year.

13. One-third of plaintiff’s sales of “Miss Clairol” is to the professional trade and two-thirds to the retail trade.

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35 Pa. D. & C.2d 78, 1964 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clairol-inc-v-martin-wholesale-distributors-inc-pactcomplphilad-1964.