Newsletter
FTC HOLDS FIRST ORAL PROCEEDINGS
The FTC held its first oral proceedings recently, in a case involving the distribution of warning letters.
The US-based Princeton Biomeditech Corporation last year retained an attorney to send letters alleging that pregnancy test reagents sold by its competitors were suspected of infringing on Princeton patent rights. One of Princeton's competitors, however, maintained that it imported its pregnancy test reagents itself and sold them through a distributor, entirely in accordance with the law. The FTC confirmed that Princeton's distribution of the warning letters constituted a demonstrably unfair act that would adversely affect the order of trade under Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law (FTL), and ordered that Princeton correct its actions.
Upon request by a concerned party, the FTC then held oral proceedings in accordance with the Guidelines for FTC Oral Proceedings. In the end, however, the FTC reconfirmed its original decision that Princeton's distribution of the warning letters had violated the FTL.