wrapper with a trade name and printed matter affixed thereto of which a photographic reproduction is as follows: 14. That said merchandise so marked does not contain any proportion of silk fiber, and the trade-mark containing the word "silk" is so attached for the purpose of deceiving and misleading the public into the belief that said material is silk and the purchasing public are so deceived: that said goods so misbranded are sold by said copartnership of Goldin Bros., in New York City, and in the course of interstate trade and commerce to customers outside of the State of New York and come into direct competition with interstate sales of genuine silk thread manufactured by members of your petitioner for sale and consumption in New York City and other cites in other States than the State of New York, and the said members of your petitioner are being thereby injured by being subjected to such unfair methods of competition. 15. That Kaplan & Goldblatt is a partnership composed of Samuel Kaplan and George Goldblatt, and is engaged in the business of selling textile merchandise as wholesale merchants at 44 West Twenty-sixth Street, in the city of New York, and that said concern is selling and disposing of large quantities of cotton thread on spools which at each end contains a different trade name or stamp, of which a photographic reproduction is as follows: 16. That said thread so stamped contains no proportion of silk and is solely cotton thread, but is advertised in the press and sold as spool silk, and that by misbranding and so misrepresenting said thread as silk the said concern intends to and does deceive the purchasing public into the belief that said merchandise is silk; that said goods so misbranded are sold by said Kaplan & Goldblatt to customers in New York City and in the course of interstate trade and commerce to customers outside of the State of New York, and all said sales come into direct competition with interstate sales of genuine silk thread made by members of your petitioner to customers in New York City, in the State of New York, and to customers in other States, and the said members of your petitioner are thereby injured by being subjected to such unfair methods of competition. 17. That the Thread Mills Co. has factories located in different States where it manufactures and sells cotton thread bearing a trade mark or stamp of which a photographic reproduction is as follows: That said goods contain no proportion of silk, and are so misbranded for the purpose of leading purchasers to believe that said goods contain some genuine silk, and the purchasing public is thereby so misled and deceived; that said goods so misbranded are sold by said Thread Mills Co. in the course of interstate trade and commerce to customers outside of the State of their manufacture, including retailers in the city of Chicago; that said goods so sold by said Thread Mills Co. and its customers come into direct competition with interstate sales of genuine silk made by members of your petitioner for sale and consumption in the city of Chicago, and other cities in other States, and the said members of your petitioner are being injured by being subjected to such unfair methods of competition in interstate trade. 18. That the Henry Myer Thread Manufacturing Co. is a corporation maintaining a factory for the production of thread in the city of Chicago in the State of Illinois, and that said company is selling and distributing throughout the course of interstate trade and commerce large quantities of cotton thread on spools containing a different stamp at each end thereof of which a photographic reproduction is as follows: That among other places, said spools of thread so misbranded as silk are sold to the National 5 and 10 Cent Store, at 308 West Biddle Street, in the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, and there retailed by said store to customers as silk, and that the purpose of said manufacturer in attaching the word "silk" to said spool is to deceive the public into believing that the products to which said name is affixed are genuine silk products, and members of your petitioner manufacturing silk thread for sale and consumption in said State and for interstate sale and shipment to other States and cities where said misbranded products of the Henry Myer Thread Manufacturing Co. are sold in interstate trade, thereby suffer loss in their interstate trade and business on account of said unfair methods of competition. 19. That the American Thread Co. is a corporation doing business in the city of Fall River, and State of Massachusetts, and having a large factory in that city where it manufactures and sells throughout the course of interstate trade and commerce to customers in many different States, a large quantity of cotton thread on spools containing the trade stamp or mark on the respective ends thereof as follows: That there is also an encircling band around the thread which is stamped as follows: BEWARE OF SHORT STATE NO YARDAGE "SANSILK" WARRANTED 20. That among the other goods manufactured by said American Thread Co. and sold throughout the course of interstate trade and commerce to customers in many different States is a kind of cotton thread on spools bearing a stamp on the respective ends of the spools of which a photographic reproduction is as follows: 21. That none of the said products of the American Thread Co. in connection with which the names Sansilk and Silkateen are used contain any portion of silk, and said goods are so marked for the purpose of misleading the general public into the belief that said products are genuine silk. That said merchandise so misbranded as Silkateen and Sansilk is sold to large retailers in the city of New York and elsewhere in other States, where said goods are then sold by retail, and that said retailers are important customers of many of the members of your petitioner, and that in the sale of said misbranded products as silk to said retail stores in New York City and to many other stores in other States and cities where members of your petitioner sell competing merchandise and in the resale of said products by said stores, said members are subjected to unfair methods of competition, to their great and irreparable injury. 22. That the Circle Cilk Co. has its principal place of business at 2734 North Fifth Street, Philadelphia, in the State of Fennsylvania, and sells large quantities of cotton thread containing a trade name, stamp, or trade-mark as follows: That said merchandise so misbranded does not contain any genuine silk, and your petitioner is informed and believes that said Circle Cilk Co. does not produce any genuine silk merchandise or any merchandise containing any silk, and your petitioner believes that the word "Cilk" as embodied in its corporate name and the use of the trade stamp "Circle Cilk Embroidery Floss" upon cotton thread produced and sold by said company is but part of a scheme or plan to mislead the general public into the belief that said goods are silk; that said goods are sold in the course of interstate trade and commerce to cities outside of the State of their manufacture and come into direct competition in said cities with genuine silk thread made by members of your petitioner and sold in the course of interstate trade to customers in the same cities where said misbranded goods are sold; that said members are thereby injured by being subjected to such unfair methods of competition in interstate trade. 23. That the Amherst Manufacturing Co. is a corporation engaged in the manufacture of textile goods in the city of Amherst, in the State of Massachusetts, and produces and sells generally in the course of interstate trade and commerce to customers outside of that State large quantities of cotton thread on spools bearing the trade name or stamp on both ends thereof as follows: That said thread is surrounded by an encircling band containing printed matter as follows: WARRANTED PAST COLORS SHKCOSILK USE IVORY SOAP AND TREAT 2 Cents AS SILK IN WASHING That among other cities said goods so marked and dressed are sold to customers in the city of New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana. That said merchandise does not contain any portion of silk, and said trade name as printed and used is calculated and intended to deceive the average purchaser into the belief that said merchandise is genuine silk, and purchasers are thereby misled and deceived. That said misbranded merchandise so sold in the course of interstate trade comes into direct competition with genuine silk thread made by members of your petitioner and sold through interstate trade to customers in many of the same cities where said misbranded goods are so sold, and said members of your petitioner are thereby directly injured by being subjected to such unfair methods of competition in interstate trade. 24. That the Western Thread Co. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Illinois and does business under the trade name of “Collingbourne's Silk Mills"; that said company is engaged in the manufacture of textile merchandise in the city of Elgin, in the State of Illinois, and your petitioner is informed and believes that it does not produce or sell any goods containing any portion of genuine silk and has embodied the word "silk" in its trade name for the purpose of disposing of cotton goods as silk. That among its various products it produces and sells in the course of interstate trade and commerce large quantities of cotton thread of under the name "Japsilk," and that a photographic reproduction of the trade-mark and printed matter attached to said thread when sold is as follows: That said company also produces and sells a large quantity of cotton thread or yarn containing no portion of true silk, accompanied with an attached trade-mark or trade name of which a photographic reproduction is as follows: Washigire tions? Avid bon ARTZILK bapever, todnotu soa Carefully ory Apidly d or press while wet or moist. 330 Collingbourne's A BETTER THREAD That said company also sells a large quantity of cotton thread containing no portion of true silk, accompanied with an attached trade-mark or trade name on which a photographic reproduction is as follows: TEXASILK CORDONE 25. That in all of the advertisements, trade names, and stamps accompanying the aforesaid products of the Western Thread Co., the word "silk" is always used in conspicuous letters, and that said goods marked "Japsilk," "Artzilk," or "Texasilk" do not contain any portion of silk and are so marked for the purpose of misleading the purchaser into believing that said merchandise is genuine silk, and many purchasers are thereby mislead. That said misbranded merchandise is sold in the course of interstate trade and commerce and comes into direct competition with genuine silk thread made by members of your petitioner, and sold through interstate trade to customers in many of the same cities where said misbranded goods are sold, in interstate trade, and said members of your petitioner are thereby directly injured by being subjected to such unfair methods of competition in interstate trade. 26. That the Kerr Thread Co., of Fall River, Mass., manufactures in Fall River, and sells to customers outside of the State of Massachusetts, large quantities of cotton thread marked "Silkateen," and containing a stamp on both ends of the spool of which a photographic reproduction is as follows: That said thread is surrounded by an encircling band containing certain printed matter, as follows: BEWARE OF SHORT LENGTH GOODS THAT STATE NO YARDAGE O PURE "SILKATEEN" @ WARRANTED That said merchandise does not contain any portion of silk and said name of "Silketeen" is adopted for the sole purpose of misleading the general public into the belief that said thread to which it is attached is genuine silk and the purchasing public is thereby misled. 27. That said merchandise of the Kerr Thread Co. so misbranded is sold in the course of interstate trade and commerce to many customers in States outside of the State of Massachusetts, and many of said customers also purchase silk thread of one or more members of your petitioner in the course of interstate trade, and said members are thereby wrongfully subjected to such unfair methods of competition in their interstate trade and business, to their great and irreparable injury; that among the customers to which said misbranded goods are sold in interstate trade by said Kerr Thread Co. are large retail merchants in the city of New York, and customers in the city of New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana, and that members of your petitioner sell large quantities of genuine silk thread to said customers in said cities of New York and New Orleans, and are thereby directly injured by such unfair methods of interstate competition. 28. That your petitioner is informed and believes that there are other and further instances of unfair methods of competition of the kind and character hereinabove set forth affecting the silk industry, and that your honorable commission will discover a large amount of evidence of this character if it undertakes a further investigation of such unfair methods of competition affecting the silk industry in the United States. Wherefore your petitioner prays: (1) That your commission shall issue and serve upon A. Theo Abbott & Co., Charles Maxwell Co. (Inc.), Goldin Bros., Kaplan & Goldblatt, Henry Myer Thread Manufacturing Co., The Thread Mills Co., Circle Cilk Co., American Thread Co., Kerr Thread Co., Amherst Manufacturing Co., and Western Thread Co., the respondents herein named, a copy of the foregoing complaint, accompanied with a notice of hearing to take place at a date and place fixed by your commission, within 30 days after service of said complaint, and that after such hearing your commission shall issue an order requiring said respondents to cease and desist from the use of the word "silk" or any combination of letters suggesting the word "silk" on or in connection with any merchandise which does not contain silk, or on or in connection with any trade-marks, 177735-2011 |