Respondent manufactures and sells toilet tissues and paper towels in interstate commerce. On each package or roll of one brand are a Greek red cross and the words 'Red Cross.' Respondent registered the words 'Red Cross' and the Red Cross symbol as a trade mark; and it features them in its advertisements and on its letterheads.
By § 4 of the American Red Cross Act of January 5, 1905, 33 Stat. 600, 36 U.S.C. § 4, 36 U.S.C.A. § 4, it was made unlawful 'for any person or corporation, other than the Red Cross of America, not now lawfully entitled to use the sign of the Red Cross, hereafter to use such sign or any insignia colored in imitation thereof for the purposes of trade or as an advertisement to induce the sale of any article whatsoever.' That section was amended by the Act of June 23, 1910, 36 Stat. 604, 36 U.S.C. § 4, 36 U.S.C.A. § 4. Sec. 4 of that Act made unlawful the use of the Greek red cross on a white ground or the words 'Red Cross' for the purpose of trade or as an advertisement 'to induce the sale of any article' or 'for any business or charitable purpose' by any person other than the American National Red Cross or its duly authorized employees and agents or the sanitary and hospital authorities of the army and navy. It contained, however, a proviso which reads as follows: 'That no person, corporation, or association that actually used or whose assignor actually used the said emblem, sign, insignia, or words for any lawful purpose prior to January fifth, nineteen hundred and five, shall be deemed forbidden by this Act to continue the use thereof for the same purpose and for the same class of goods.'
Petitioner's use of the trade name and emblem antedate January 5, 1905. But in 1942 the Federal Trade Commission charged petitioner with a violation of § 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 38 Stat. 719, as amended 52 Stat. 111, 15 U.S.C. § 45, 15 U.S.C.A. § 45, which makes unlawful 'unfair methods of competition in commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce.'
A hearing was had, findings were made and a cease and desist order was issued. The Commission found that 'the use by respondent of the words 'Red Cross' and of the mark of the Greek red cross to designate its products had the tendency and capacity to mislead and deceive a substantial portion of the purchasing public, in that uch name and mark represent or imply that respondent's products are sponsored, endorsed, or approved by the Red Cross; that the Red Cross is financially interested in the sale of the products; that the products are used by the Red Cross; that the products are manufactured in accordance with sanitary standards set up by the Red Cross; or that there is some other connection between the products and the Red Cross. Not only are these, in the opinion of the Commission, reasonable inferences to be drawn from the use of the name and mark, but the record affirmatively shows that the name and mark are in fact so understood and interpreted by many members of the public.' The Commission also found that statements on respondent's products that they are made by respondent and that the name and mark are registered 'do not serve to correct the erroneous and misleading impression created through the use of the trade name and mark.' The Commission entered an order which, among other things, forbade respondent from using the words 'Red Cross' to describe its products and from displaying the Greek red cross on them. 38 F.T.C. 1.
On a petition for review the Circuit Court of Appeals, by a divided vote, reversed the order of the Commission. 149 F.2d 424. It held that the order went beyond permissible limits in forbidding any use of the words and the mark. It remanded the case to the Commission for the formulation of a new order which, though not forbidding the use of the words and the symbol, might require statements which would avoid any inference that the goods were sponsored or approved or in any way connected with the American National Red Cross. The case is here on petition for a writ of certiorari which we granted because of the importance of the problem in the administration of the Federal Trade Commission Act.