Eastex Aviation, Inc. v. The Sperry and Hutchinson Co.

522 F.2d 1299, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 11928
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedNovember 14, 1975
Docket74-1235
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 522 F.2d 1299 (Eastex Aviation, Inc. v. The Sperry and Hutchinson Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eastex Aviation, Inc. v. The Sperry and Hutchinson Co., 522 F.2d 1299, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 11928 (5th Cir. 1975).

Opinions

GODBOLD, Circuit Judge:

The Sperry & Hutchinson Company [S & H] is in the business of selling its trading stamps, known as Green Stamps, to retailers who use them to attract customers and increase sales. This case raises the question of whether methods which S & H employs in distributing Green Stamps violate § 1 of the Sherman Act1 under the standards announced in U. S. v. Arnold, Schwinn & Co., 388 U.S. 365, 87 S.Ct. 1856, 18 L.Ed.2d 1249 (1967). The District Court found S & H was violating the antitrust laws and enjoined the unlawful practices. We agree with the District Court’s conclusion and affirm.

I

For more than 80 years S & H has been in the trading stamp business. This business involves a three-stage series of transfers of the stamps — “small pieces of gummed paper about the size of postage stamps. 2 First, S & H sells Green Stumps to participating retailers. A retailer may enter into an agreement with S & H whereby S & H agrees to provide him with Green Stamps, promotional advertising signs, and a supply of books to be distributed to and used by customers for the purpose of collecting the stamps. S & H agrees to redeem the stamps when a customer presents them at an S & H redemption center. Also it agrees not to enter into a similar agreement with neighboring competitors of the contracting retailer. In return the retailer agrees to buy Green Stamps from S & H at a specified price, generally approximately $2.65 per 1000 stamps. He agrees to distribute Green Stamps to all customers at the rate of one stamp per 10 cents of merchandise purchased in cash. The retailer is forbidden to sell or distribute Green Stamps in any other manner, except that under some circumstances he may issue additional stamps to a customer. Finally, he agrees to advertise his distribution of Green Stamps and to display the signs supplied by S & H.3 The sale of stamps by S & H to participating retailers thus involves a variety of subsidiary agreements and restrictions, several of which lie at the center of the present controversy.

The second stage involves a transfer of Green Stamps from retailer to cash customer at the agreed rate of one stamp for each 10 cents of merchandise purchased in cash.4 The customer pays nothing directly for the stamps he receives.

In the final stage the collector transfers Green Stamps to S & H in exchange for merchandise at one of the redemption centers maintained by S & H throughout its areas of operation.5 Al[1302]*1302ternatively S & H will give the collector cash for his stamps at a specified rate of exchange. Recent figures indicate that approximately 87% of all Green Stamps distributed by retailers are redeemed.

The operation of S & H’s business is demonstrated by the facts of the present case. Defendant Gregg Aviation, Inc. [Gregg] is a “fixed base operator” at the Gregg County Airport, Longview, Texas. It sells to customers such goods and services as aviation gasoline, oil, parts and accessories, flight instructions, charter flights, airplane rentals and mechanical services. Gregg has for several years purchased and distributed S & H Green Stamps pursuant to a contract such as the one described above.

Plaintiff Eastex Aviation, Inc. [Eastex] is also a fixed base operator at the same airport. Eastex and Gregg are thus in direct competition for the same customers. Eastex, determining that Gregg was obtaining a competitive advantage due to its distribution of Green Stamps, contacted S & H in an attempt to become another distributor of Green Stamps. S & H refused to sell stamps to Eastex because Eastex was in a similar business and geographically proximate to Gregg.

Unable to contract with S & H, Eastex employed three schemes to meet Gregg’s competition. First it made an agreement to purchase and distribute trading stamps of a competitor of S & H. This was not a successful means of meeting Gregg’s competitive advantage, because S & H dominates the trading stamp market in the Longview area and is the only trading stamp company to maintain a redemption center in the area.

Next Eastex offered a cash discount on each sale equal to or greater than the value of the Green Stamps which would be given on such a sale. This also failed, largely because many sales at the airport were to pilots of corporate aircraft who preferred to charge their purchases to their corporate employers and receive Green Stamps which they would retain for themselves.

Eastex’s final effort was to purchase stamps from two authorized distributors of Green Stamps, although under the contract employed by S & H it is impermissible for a distributor to sell Green Stamps in bulk to another retailer. S & H learned of Eastex’s supply of stamps, traced the sources, and threatened to terminate its agreements with the supplying retailers if they continued to sell stamps to Eastex. Both sources then discontinued sales of Green Stamps to Eastex.

Unsuccessful in its attempts to meet Gregg’s competition, Eastex brought this suit seeking an injunction forbidding S & H to refuse to license it as a distributor of Green Stamps or, alternatively, forbidding S & H to interfere with any of its licensees who wish to resell stamps to plaintiff. S & H counterclaimed, seeking an injunction preventing Eastex from interfering with S & H’s contractual relationships with licensees by encouraging them to sell stamps to Eastex. The District Court held that S & H was free to refuse to license Eastex but that S & H’s restrictions on resale of Green Stamps were in violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act as interpreted in Schwinn, supra. The court enjoined S & H from conditioning its dealings with licensees upon their making no resales of stamps to Eastex. Relief was denied on the counterclaim since it sought protection of S & H’s rights under an illegal agreement.

II

We reject S & H’s threshold contention that its methods of restricting resale of Green Stamps were approved by this court in Sperry and Hutchinson Co. v. FTC, 432 F.2d 146 (CA5, 1970), aff’d, modified and remanded, 405 U.S. 233, 92 S.Ct. 898, 31 L.Ed.2d 170 (1972). The issue before us was not reached in that case.

In 1965 FTC issued a complaint alleging that the S & H engaged in unfair methods of competition and unfair acts and practices in commerce in violation of [1303]*1303§ 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45. The Commission ultimately concluded that S & H was involved in illegal combinations or conspiracies and was pursuing illegal unilateral practices and issued an order proscribing unilateral practices of S & H including its attempts to halt trafficking in Green Stamps.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
522 F.2d 1299, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 11928, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eastex-aviation-inc-v-the-sperry-and-hutchinson-co-ca5-1975.