§297 — Title 15 Commerce and Trade | U.S. Code

Summary

If an item is made mostly of cheaper metal but has a layer of gold or silver on it (sold under common names like rolled-gold, gold plate, gold-filled, silver plate, or electroplated), you cannot mark the item, its tag, or its package with a mark that suggests the metal’s fineness unless you also clearly state that the piece (or the part) is plated or gold-filled. You also may not mark such an item or its packaging with the words "sterling" or "coin." If a manufacturer or dealer covered by section 294 puts a quality mark on an item saying it is gold or silver, or brings into a State an item already bearing such a mark, they must put their registered trademark or their name on that item within 30 days after it is placed in commerce or imported. If the item has two or more self-contained parts that are different in quality and one part has a quality mark, they must mark each other part with a matching mark that shows that part’s quality.

Title 15, §297

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In the case of articles of merchandise made in whole or in part of an inferior metal, having deposited or plated thereon or brazed or otherwise affixed thereto a plating, covering, or sheet composed of gold or silver, or of an alloy of either of said metals, and known in the market as rolled gold plate, gold plate, gold filled, silver plate, or gold or silver electroplate, or by any similar designation, so imported into or exported from the United States, or so deposited in the United States mails for transmission, or so delivered to any common carrier, or so transported or caused to be transported as specified in section 294 of this title, no such article, nor any tag, card, or label attached thereto, nor any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is encased or inclosed, shall be stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted with any word or mark usually employed to indicate the fineness of gold, unless such word or mark be accompanied by other words, plainly indicating that such article or part thereof is made of rolled gold plate, gold plate, or gold electroplate, or is gold filled, as the case may be, and no such article, nor any tag, card, or label attached thereto, nor any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is incased or inclosed, shall be stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted with the word “sterling” or the word “coin”, either alone or in conjunction with other words or marks.

(b)Whenever any person, firm, corporation, or association, being a manufacturer or dealer subject to section 294 of this title—

(1)applies or causes to be applied to any article of merchandise intended for sale or customarily sold as a complete product to consumers in any State, by stamping, branding, engraving, or otherwise, any quality mark or stamp indicating or purporting to indicate that such article is made in whole or in part of gold or silver or of an alloy of either such metal; or

(2)imports into any State any such article of merchandise bearing any such quality mark or stamp which indicates or purports to indicate that such article is made in whole or in part of gold or silver or of an alloy of either such metal,

(A)Apply or cause to be applied to that article a trademark of such persons, which has been duly registered or applied for registration under the laws of the United States within thirty days after an article bearing the trademark is placed in commerce or imported into the United States, or the name of such person; and

(B)if such article of merchandise is composed of two or more parts which are complete in themselves but which are not identical in quality, and any one of such parts bears such a quality mark or stamp, apply or cause to be applied to each other part of that article of merchandise a quality mark or stamp of like pattern and size disclosing the quality of that other part.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The

Effective Date

of this Act, referred to in subsec. (b), as the first day of the third month beginning after Oct. 4, 1961, see

Effective Date

of 1961 Amendment note set out under this section.

Amendments

1970—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91–366 struck out reference to the trademark of a firm, corporation or association in cl. (A). 1961—Pub. L. 87–354 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1970 Amendment Pub. L. 91–366, § 4,

July 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 691, provided that: “This Act [amending this section and section 298 and 299 of this title and enacting provisions set out below] shall take effect three months after enactment [

July 31, 1970].”

Effective Date

of 1961 Amendment Pub. L. 87–354, § 2, Oct. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 776, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this Act [amending this section] shall take effect on the first day of the third month beginning after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 4, 1961].” Separability Pub. L. 91–366, § 2, July 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 691, provided that: “If any provision of this Act [see

Effective Date

of 1970 Amendment note above] or any amendment made thereby, or the application thereof to any person, as that term is herein defined, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act or amendment and the application of the remaining provisions of the Act or amendment to any person shall not be affected thereby.”

Construction

of 1970 Amendment Pub. L. 91–366, § 3, July 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 691, provided that: “The provisions of this Act [see

Effective Date

of 1970 Amendment note above] and

Amendments

made thereby shall be held to be in addition to, and not in substitution for or limitation of, the provisions of any other Act of the United States.”

§297 Stamping Plated Articles

Summary

Title 15, §297

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Effective Date

Effective Date

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Amendments

Effective Date

Construction

Effective Date

Amendments

Citations & Metadata