Clairol, Inc. v. Sarann Co.

37 Pa. D. & C.2d 433, 1965 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 273
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedAugust 25, 1965
Docketno. 845
StatusPublished

This text of 37 Pa. D. & C.2d 433 (Clairol, Inc. v. Sarann Co.) 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. Sarann Co., 37 Pa. D. & C.2d 433, 1965 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 273 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1965).

Opinion

Spaeth, J.,

Nature of the Case

Plaintiff, a manufacturer of hair care products and cosmetics, seeks to restrain defendant, which operates two discount stores, from selling plaintiff’s product [434]*434“Miss Clairol Hair Color Bath” in a way that plaintiff says constitutes unfair competition and violates an equitable restriction.

Findings of Fact

1. Plaintiff, a Delaware corporation, with its principal place of business in New York City, is engaged in the business of manufacturing and distributing hair care products and cosmetics which bear plaintiff’s trademarks, which trademarks are registered in the office of the Commissioner of Patents in Washington, D. C. Plaintiff has not procured a certificate of authority to do business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

2. Defendant, Sarann Co., Inc., is a Pennsylvania corporation and operates two vitamin and cosmetic discount stores at 7407 Stenton Avenue and 109 Chelten Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

3. Among the products manufactured and sold by plaintiff is a hair coloring preparation containing coal tar dyes which is advertised and sold as “Miss Clairol Hair Color Bath” (referred to hereafter as “Miss Clairol”).

4. All Miss Clairol sold in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is manufactured in Stamford, Conn., and is shipped by plaintiff in interstate commerce to purchasers in Pennsylvania.

5. 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 to beauty salons for ultimate use by beauticians, and beauty schools for use in the training of such beauticians; and (2) the retail trade consisting of wholesalers, jobbers and direct buying retailers for ultimate resale to the general public for use by lay consumers at home.

6. Plaintiff sells professional Miss Clairol to all of its professional trade customers for approximately [435]*435$.39 per bottle. Plaintiff sells the retail package of Miss Clairol to retail jobbers for approximately $.67 and to direct buying retailers (department and chain stores) for approximately $.71. Plaintiff has no control over the price charged by its customers when they resell the product.

7. This price differential exists because $.39 is a competitive price in the beauty professional trade, and plaintiff desires to meet its competition. It is necessary for plaintiff to do so, because it is important to success in the retail trade that plaintiff receive the endorsement of the professional hairdresser. Plaintiff’s competitors who sell in both channels of trade have similar price structures.

8. Prior to 1963, Miss Clairol was sold in the identical package to both the professional trade and the retail trade. This package consisted of a two-ounce bottle, bearing an identifying label, and enclosed in a bright yellow carton together with instructions both for the preliminary patch test and for use of the product.

9. In 1963, plaintiff introduced a new package for the professional trade, different from that previously used for the retail and professional trades.

10. There has been no change in the packaging of Miss Clairol for the retail trade.

11. The retail package of Miss Clairol presently in use (the design was changed in 1960) consists of an individual two-ounce bottle of hair coloring bearing a yellow label and detailed instructions for both the preliminary patch test and use of the product. Both the bottle and the instructions are enclosed in a bright yellow carton bearing plaintiff’s trademark and the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Each bottle label and each carton bear the following warning:

“Caution — this product contains ingredients which may cause skin irritation on certain individuals and [436]*436a preliminary test according to accompanying instructions should first be made. This product may not be used for dying the eyelashes or eyebrows; to do so may cause blindness.”

12. The professional package of Miss Clairol consists of a single carton containing six two-ounce bottles of hair coloring. Also included in each carton is a single instruction sheet for the preliminary patch test. No instructions for use of the product are furnished. The hair coloring in the professional and retail package is chemically the same. The professional carton bears the warning quoted in finding 11 above and a similar warning is on each bottle label.

13. Each six-pack carton and the individual professional bottle labels bear the following cautionary statement:

“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.”

14. Plaintiff does not sell professional packages to the retail trade or retail packages to the professional trade.

15. By changing the packaging of Miss Clairol for the professional trade, as described in finding 12 above, plaintiff realizes substantial annual savings of approximately $175,000. This saving, of about 1-4/10 cents per bottle, results from the elimination of individual cartons and instructions for each bottle which are unnecessary and superfluous for professionals.

16. If one uses Miss Clairol without instructions or without adequate instructions, any one of a number of adverse consequences may result. The user may experience a severe and harmful allergic reaction; if [437]*437rubber gloves are not used, the user’s skin and fingernails may be stained, and cuts and bruises on the hand may be subjected to painful stinging and burning-sensations ; if the wrong type of permanent wave solution is used after the application of Miss Clairol, substantial hair breakage or frizzling may result; the user may select and apply a shade which will not produce the desired color change or so misuse the shade she has selected as to fail to achieve the desired degree of lightening; hair may turn yellow or muddy brown if “Ermine” or “Starlight” is used alone; if a preliminary strand test is not performed, hair breakage or discoloration may result; even if hair breakage or discoloration are not caused by failure to perform a preliminary strand test, the user may experience unsatisfactory results from the use of Miss Clairol; and if Miss Clairol is used when the scalp contains cuts or other abrasions, painful stinging sensations will result.

17. The detailed instructions for use contained in each retail package of Miss Clairol are prepared to insure that the untrained lay consumer will obtain safe, satisfactory and glamorous results from use of the product. The instructions are carefully organized in logical sequence and type and color differences are used to obtain needed emphasis. As a result of the last major revision of the instructions, made in 1960-61, Miss Clairol obtained the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

18. Miss Clairol is subject to chemical deterioration upon exposure to heat and light, which will alter the result achieved by use of the product. The individual retail carton protects the hair coloring from such exposure until after purchase, when the user removes the bottle from the carton.

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Bluebook (online)
37 Pa. D. & C.2d 433, 1965 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clairol-inc-v-sarann-co-pactcomplphilad-1965.