15 U.S.C. § 297 : US Code - Section 297: Stamping plated articles

Search 15 U.S.C. § 297 : US Code - Section 297: Stamping plated articles

(a) Words "sterling" or "coin" forbidden
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) Identifying trademark
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,
such person, firm, corporation, or association, before depositing
any such article manufactured or imported after six months after
the effective date of this Act in the United States mails, or
causing such article to be so deposited, for transmission thereby,
or delivering such article or causing such article to be delivered
to any common carrier for transportation from one State to any
other State, or transporting such article or causing such article
to be transported from one State to any other State, shall -
(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.
Each identifying trademark or name applied to any article of
merchandise in compliance with clause (A) of this subsection shall
be applied to that article by the same means as that used in
applying the quality mark or stamp appearing thereon, in type or
lettering at least as large as that used in such quality mark or
stamp, and in a position as close as possible to that quality mark
or stamp. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "State"
includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, and the District of Columbia.