HQ 735413 - Internal Advice No. 80/93; Country of origin marking of smoke detectors with the company trade name "Maple Chase Company of Canada"; 19 CFR ?134.47. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 735413

February 1, 1995

MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:S 735413 KR

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Robert Holler, District Director
U.S. Customs Service
9400 Viscount Blvd. Suite 104
El Paso, TX 79925

RE: Internal Advice No. 80/93; Country of origin marking of smoke detectors with the company trade name "Maple Chase Company of Canada"; 19 CFR ?134.47.

Dear Sir:

This is in response to your memorandum of September 20, 1993, forwarding a request for internal advice from Rudolf Miles & Sons on behalf of Seatt Corp. concerning the country of origin marking of imported smoke detectors which are products of Mexico but have printed on the retail cartons the company trade name "Maple Chase Company of Canada". Various corporate papers were submitted for our review. We regret the delay in responding.

FACTS:

Seatt Corp. imports smoke detectors which are assembled in Mexico. For purposes of this ruling, we are assuming that the smoke detectors are products of Mexico. The back panel of the retail container has a label attached which provides information regarding the country of origin, the mounting type, whether or not batteries are included and the Underwriters Laboratories approval. The front panel of the container is printed with the company name "Maple Chase Company of Canada". The company has submitted various company papers indicating their company name. One page filed as a "Registration Under the Business Names Registration Act" filed on May 21, 1991, with the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada has the business name listed as "Maple Chase Company of Canada". Another filing submitted was a "Declaration For Partnership And Business Name" for the company "Maple Chase Company of Canada" filed with the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations, Registrar of Companies of the Province of British Columbia dated June 12, 1991, file number 119992-91. On several other documents, however, (e.g. Alberta Corporate Registry, Manitoba Certificate of Registration, British Columbia Registrar) the company is identified simply as "Maple Chase Company". No application for registration of the trademark or trade name, "Maple Chase Company of Canada", has been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

ISSUE:

Do the requirements of 19 CFR ?134.46 or 19 CFR ?134.47 apply to the smoke detector containers?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. origin imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.

Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. ?1304. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain.

In addition, ?134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR ?134.46), requires that when the name of any city or locality in the U.S., or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the name of the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced, appears on an imported article or its container, there shall appear, legibly and permanently, in close proximity to such words, letters or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin preceded by "Made in," "Product of," or other words of similar meaning. Customs has ruled that in order to satisfy the close proximity requirement, the country of origin marking must appear on the same side(s) or surface(s) in which the name of the locality other than the country of origin appears. HQ 708994 (April 24, 1978). The purpose of 19 CFR ?134.46 is to prevent the possibility of misleading or deceiving the ultimate purchaser as to the origin of the imported article.

Under similar circumstances, however, ?134.47, Customs Regulations (19 CFR ?134.47), requires a slightly less restrictive marking. Under ?134.47, when the name of a place other than the country of origin appears as part of a trademark or trade name or as part of a souvenir marking, the name of the actual country of origin must appear in close proximity to the place name "or in some other conspicuous location". In other words, if the question concerns a trade name or trademark, the country of origin marking needs only to meet the general standard of conspicuousness. Under either ?134.46 or ?134.47, the name of the country of origin must be preceded by "Made in", "Product of", or words of similar meaning. See HQ 734175 (February 24, 1992); HQ 734277 (December 24, 1991); HQ 734644 (July 1, 1992); HQ 734568 (December 16, 1992); HQ 735321 (January 19, 1995).

The smoke detectors in the instant case are printed with the company name, Maple Chase Company of Canada, on the front panel. The country of origin appears on the back panel. Maple Chase Company has submitted filings with the Canadian authorities establishing "Maple Chase Company of Canada" as a trade name. The language of 19 CFR ?134.47 pertains to a trademark or trade name with a location in the United States. In this case the trade name has the location "Canada", not a U.S. location. Customs has held, however, that "[t]he rationale for granting a special exemption for trademarks and trade names containing the name of a domestic locality [under ?134.47] applies at least as strongly to trademarks bearing the name of a foreign locality". HQ 731524 (December 18, 1989) (quoting HQ 710682 (June 26, 1979)). However, in these cases, Customs' decision was based in part upon the fact that the foreign location mentioned in the trademark was either registered or under application for registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Accordingly, it is our opinion that while the intent of ?134.47 was to include foreign locales mentioned as part of a trademark designations as well as domestic locales, a party seeking this more lenient standard must still demonstrate registration or application for registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Therefore, use of their name, "Maple Chase Company of Canada", would trigger the requirements of 19 CFR ?134.46 rather than the more lenient requirements of 19 CFR ?134.47. The country of origin marking, preceded by the words "Made in" or "Product of" or other similar words, must appear in close proximity and in comparable size print in each location where "Maple Chase Company of Canada" appears.

HOLDING:

We find that the appropriate standard applicable to Maple Chase Company of Canada is 19 CFR ?134.46 and, therefore, the country of origin marking must appear in close proximity and in comparable size print in each location where "Maple Chase Company of Canada" appears.

This decision should be mailed by your office to the internal advice requester no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. On that date the Office of Regulations and Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, Lexis, Freedom of Information Act and other public access channels.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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