A bill to amend the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 45) to provide that under certain circumstances exclusive territorial arrangements shall not be deemed unlawful.
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
Provides that nothing contained in the Federal Trade Commission Act, or in any of the antitrust Acts, shall render unlawful the inclusion and enforcement in any trademark licensing contract or agreement, pursuant to which the licensee engages in the distribution or sale of a trademarked private label food product, of provisions granting the licensee the sole and exclusive right to distribute or sell such product in a defined geographic area or limiting the licensee, directly or indirectly, to the distribution or sale of such product only for ultimate resale to consumers within a defined geographic area. Provides that the provisions of this Act shall apply only if in such defined geographic area: (1) such product is in substantial and effective competition with products of the same general class distributed or sold by others; (2) the licensee is in substantial and effective competition with vendors of other products of the same general class; and (3) the licensor retains control over the nature and quality of such product in accordance with the provisions of the Trademark Act of 1946, as amended. Defines, for the purposes of this Act, the term "trademarked". Provides that private label food product means a food product that is both: (1) sold under a trademark owned by an organization that licenses such product for sale exclusively by either; (a) food wholesalers or food retailers who cooperatively own and control such organization; or (b) food wholesalers for resale to retail food stores that do business under a common trademark name owned by such organization; and (2) produced and packaged to specifications determined solely by the organization that owns the trademark.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 11, 1973. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 11, 1973: Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
BO GINN (D-GA) introduced it on July 11, 1973. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 11, 1973, 19419 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19419 days ago, on July 11, 1973.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers