Revlon, Inc. v. Regal Pharmacy, Inc.

29 F.R.D. 169, 132 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 187, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3953
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedDecember 19, 1961
DocketCiv. A. No. 19059
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 29 F.R.D. 169 (Revlon, Inc. v. Regal Pharmacy, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Revlon, Inc. v. Regal Pharmacy, Inc., 29 F.R.D. 169, 132 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 187, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3953 (E.D. Mich. 1961).

Opinion

FREEMAN, District Judge.

This is a motion for summary judgment filed by defendants in an action involving two related claims brought by the plaintiff to enjoin the defendants from buying or selling plaintiff’s hair spray product known as professional “Satin-Set” based on a claim of unfair competition, and also seeking injunctive relief against defendants in a claim of inducing plaintiff’s distributors having such product for sale to breach their franchise agreements.

Plaintiff is engaged in the business of producing and selling cosmetic and beauty preparations under the registered trade name “Revlon”. One of such products is a hair spray known as “Satin-Set”, which name is also a registered trade-mark of plaintiff. It is the claim of plaintiff that “Satin-Set” hair spray is manufactured under two different formulae, one of which products known as consumer “Satin-Set” is for home use and the other known as professional “Satin-Set” is made only for use in beauty shops and beauty schools, because it produces an undesirable matting effect of the hair when used by others than trained operators.

These two products are marketed by plaintiff under a dual system of distribution. Professional “Satin-Set” is sold by plaintiff only to so-called salon jobbers under an agreement that such product will not be resold except to beauty shops and beauty schools, nor to such shops and schools which sell such product to any person other than the consuming public. Consumer “Satin-Set” is sold by plaintiff to both the salon jobbers for resale by beauty shops and schools for consumer use and also to agency franchise dealers for resale by various types of retail outlets such as drug stores and department stores which sell only to the con[171]*171suming public. The salon jobbers’ franchise agreements also provide that the distributor will not sell Revlon products at less than minimum resale prices set by plaintiff in states having Fair Trade Acts, nor to beauty shops and beauty schools which resell such products at less than minimum retail prices, as provided under plaintiff’s Fair Trade agreements in Fair Trade States such as Michigan and Ohio where the sales in question occurred.

The defendant Shulman is President of and in control of all of the corporate defendants. The defendant Regal Ph'afmacy, Inc., was one of plaintiff’s agency franchise distributors for the resale of plaintiff’s products at its retail stores. None of th-e other defendants had any franchise agreement with plaintiff for the sale of any of plaintiff’s products.

Plaintiff has spent large sums of money in extensively advertising its “Satin-Set” hair spray to the consuming public and claims that it has established substantial good will and a valuable favorable reputation for such product.

Professional “Satin-Set” was sold by plaintiff to its salon distributors in containers bearing its registered trademarks and names “Revlon” and “Satin-Set” and upon which containers plaintiff imprinted the cautionary statements that such hair spray was “Scientifically Formulated for Professional Use Only” and “Not for Resale”, and the labels on some of such cans contain printed notices that they were “Not for Home Use”. The containers used in marketing consumer “Satin-Set” did not bear the foregoing statements and had printed thereon detailed instructions for use by the consumer, which instructions do not appear on the professional “Satin-Set” containers.

Defendants admittedly purchased 646 cans of plaintiff’s professional “Satin-Set” hair spray and resold same at its retail stores to the consuming public. Plaintiff claims that a larger quantity of such hair spray was so sold by the defendants, but this claim is without evidentiary support. It is undisputed that prior to the filing of this suit, the defendían ts were aware of the printed restrictions against resale on the professional “Satin-Set” containers and that the -plaintiff informed the defendant Shulman to stop selling such product, which sales by the defendants nevertheless continued, even after the suit was filed.

; The only evidence before the Court on plaintiff’s claim of inducing its distributors to breach their franchise agreements is that the defendants procured the containers of professional “Satin-Set” in question from sources other than plaintiff’s franchised dealers. During oral arguments plaintiff conceded there was no issue of fact as to that claim and, therefore, the only remaining question involved on this motion is plaintiff’s claim of unfair competition.

Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is filed pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S. C.A., which in pertinent part provides :

“The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”

” [1, 2] The courts have taken a cautious approach in applying Rule 56. It is well established that on a motion for summary judgment, the burden is upon the moving party to establish the lack of a triable issue of fact and the right to judgment as a matter of law. It is equally well established that in considering such a motion, the party opposing the motion is to be given the benefit of all reasonable doubts in determining whether a genuine issue exists and the court is required to give that party the benefit of all favorable inferences that may be drawn from the evidence. McHenry v. Ford Motor Company (C.A.6), 269 F.2d 18.

[172]*172“The question to be decided on a motion for summary judgment is whether there is a genuine issue of fact and not how that issue should be determined. The hearing on the motion is not a trial. * * * ” B Barron and Holtzoff, Federal Practice and Procedure (Rules Ed.) 1234, pp. 122, 123.

In the case of Union Transfer Co. v. Riss & Company (C.A.8), 218 F.2d 553, the court, in construing Rule 56, at p. 554, said:

“That rule places the burden of demonstrating the nonexistence of any genuine fact issue upon the moving party and requires that all doubts be resolved against him. Walling v. Fairmont Creamery Co., 8 Cir., 139 F.2d 318, 322. A surmise, no matter how reasonable, that a party ‘is unlikely to prevail upon a trial, is not a sufficient basis for refusing him his day in court with respect to issues which are not shown to be sham, frivolous, or so unsubstantial that it would obviously be futile to try them.’ ” (Citing cases.)

With respect to plaintiff’s claim of unfair competition, plaintiff contends that its professional “Satin-Set” hair spray, when used by an untrained consumer, gives unsatisfactory results and is, therefore, from the standpoint of the consumer, a product inferior to its consumer “Satin-Set” product, and consequently such use injures plaintiff’s good will and favorable reputation for its products.

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Bluebook (online)
29 F.R.D. 169, 132 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 187, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3953, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/revlon-inc-v-regal-pharmacy-inc-mied-1961.