Ftc v. Klesner, 280 U.S. 19 (1929)
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Federal Trade Commission v. Klesner
No. 8
Argued April 10, 1929
Decided October 14, 1929
280 U.S. 19
CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS
OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
1. Section 5 of the federal Trade Commission Act, unlike the Interstate Commerce Act, does not provide private persons with an administrative remedy for private wrongs. P. 25.
2. A complaint may be filed under § 5 only "if it shall appear to the Commission that a proceeding by it in respect thereof would be to the interest of the public," and this requirement is not satisfied merely by proof that there has been misapprehension and confusion on the part of purchasers, or even that they have been deceived. To justify filing a complaint, the public interest must be specific and substantial. P. 27.
3. The Commission has jurisdiction of a complaint authorized by its resolution declaring in appropriate form that the Commission has reason to believe that the party complained of is violating § 5 of the Act and that it appears to the Commission that a proceeding in respect thereof would be in the interest of the public; but its action in authorizing the filing of a complaint, like its action in making an order thereon, is subject to judicial review. P. 29.
4. Whenever in the course of the proceeding before the Commission the specific facts established show, as a matter of law, that the proceeding is not in the public interest, the Commission should dismiss the complaint, and if, instead, it enters an order and brings suit to enforce it, the court, without inquiry into the merits, should dismiss the suit. P. 30.
5. S had long engaged in the business of making and selling window shades in the District of Columbia under the name "The Shade Shop," and in 1914 occupied part of K’s store. In 1915, S removed from K’s shop in violation of his agreement. As a result of the ensuing controversy, K, who had previously sold window shades only incidentally to his principal business of painting and paperhanging, opened that line in the space vacated by S and advertised it as "Shade Shop," generally with the qualification "Hooper & Klesner." Five years later, and after S’s suit for an injunction had been dismissed by the Supreme Court of the District, the complaint before the Commission was filed. A desist order was entered nearly two years later. This suit to enforce the Commission’s order was begun nearly nine years after K had instituted the course of conduct complained of. No claim was made that K’s goods were inferior to S’s or that the public otherwise suffered financially. Held, that the filing of the complaint was not in the public interest, and that this suit should therefore be dismissed. P. 30.
25 F.2d 524 affirmed.
Certiorari, 278 U.S. 591, to review a judgment of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia dismissing a suit to enforce an order of the federal Trade Commission. The judgment is affirmed on a ground different from that adopted by the court below. For earlier decisions in the same case, see 6 F.2d 701; 274 U.S. 145.