The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-06-26
THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
S3O,OOO,OOO IS
ASKED IN SUIT
AGAINST TRUST
Grigsby- GrunoW Charges
Radio Combine With
Illegal Pool.
BIZ United Press

By United Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo, June 26.-
The Grigsby- Grunow Company of
Chicago, manufacturers of radio re-
ceiving sets, sued the so-called
radio trust" for $4,000 900 damages
today on charges of illegal compel
tive practices.
The action was filed in United
States district court here with for
ner United States Senator James A.
Reed of Missouri and Elmer r.
Reichmann Of Chicago attorneys for
the plaintiff.
These five companies are named
defendants: Radio Corporation of
America, General Electric Company,
Westinghouse Electric and Manu-
featuring Company, RCA Victor
Company, Inc, and RCA Radiotron
Company, Inc.
Grigsby Grunow manufactures
Majestic radios and claims to be the
worlds largest maker of receiving
sets. It's petition charges that the
defendant companies caused Grigs-
by-Grunow to suffer actual damages
to the. extent of $10,000,000 by en-
forcing competitive measures which
were in restraint of trade. Under the
Clayton act the plaintiff is entitled
to recover three-fold the actual
damage if upheld. Thus the suit
seeks to recover $30,OO0,O00.
Reed Attacked Trust
Former Senator Reed, whose Mis-
souri, friends started a presidential
boom in his behalf after he had at
tackled the radio trust recently
in banquet address at Sedalia,
was not in Kansas City when the
suit was filed. He and Mrs. Reed
are in New York and plan to sail
Friday for Europe.
In addition to charging the de-
PENDANT companies with violating
the Sherman antitrust law, the
twenty-seven-page petition makes
the following allegations:
That the defendants illegally Gre
ated vast pool of patents and thus
Illegally compelled GrigSby- Grunow
to pay royalties of approximately
Sc, 000, 900.
That under the tube clause" of
the license agreement, which the
plaintiff obtained from the defend
ants, the former was compelled to
buy radio vacuum tubes from the
Radio Corporation at high price
and was prevented from engaging
in the vacuum tube business. (This
clause since has been declared il
legal by the federal court in Della
ware.) Grigsby- Grunow estimates
its actual damage through enforce
ment of the tube clause" at $780,
900.
Failed to Deliver
That the Radio Corporation failed
to deliver an adequate supply of
tubes to the plaintiff, although
R. G. AS own dealers and distribu-
tors received all they needed.
That the defendants entered into
cross-license agreements, allocating
among themselves exclusive rights
in the radio and vacuum tube fields
not only under existing patents but
all future patents.
That under the terms of it's IL
cense agreement with the defend
ants, Grigsby- Grunow could make
nothing but receiving sets for home
use and was kept out of the field
of selling communication apparatus
for toll, public speaking instruments
or radio sets for hotels, schools or
churches.
In addition to having to accept
this unlawful dictation," the plain
tiff company says it could not OBJ
tain a market for its radio rece..
until it had paid r. G. A. 100000
for a license and $80,708 as dam
ages for patent INFRINGEMENT.