Announced Actions for February 1, 2002

The Commission has approved a petition by The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) regarding certain amendments to the "Huntsman Agreement" and the "Ineos Agreement," both of which are incorporated into the decision and order in Docket No. C-3999 that concerns the merger of Dow and Union Carbide. The specific amendments requested by the company are detailed in the public version of the petition, which is available on the FTC's Web site at www.ftc.gov. The Commission vote to grant the petition was 5-0. (Docket No. C-3999; staff contact is Roberta Baruch, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2861; see press releases dated February 5,  March 16, 2001 and December 11, 2001.)

The Commission has approved a petition by Exxon Mobil Corporation (Exxon Mobil) requesting prior approval to supplement Appendix B of the FTC's order relating to the merger of Exxon Corporation and Mobil Corporation. (The order was publicly announced on November 30, 1999.) Pursuant to Paragraph XII of the order, Exxon Mobil divested to BP Exploration & Oil Inc. (BP) the jet turbine oil business of Exxon Corporation, including the "sole and exclusive worldwide perpetual royalty-free license to practice in the field of jet turbine oils," the patents listed in Appendix B of the order.

Paragraph XII.B.13 of the order requires that, within one year of the divestiture and subject to Commission approval, Exxon Mobil supplement Appendix B with certain additional patents at the request of the acquirer of the jet turbine oil business. In its petition, Exxon claimed that BP has requested that two additional U.S. patents (and their foreign equivalents) be included in Appendix B.

The Commission vote to approve the petition was 3-0, with Chairman Timothy J. Muris not participating and Commissioner Thomas B. Leary recused. (FTC File No. 991-0077; Docket No. C-3907; staff contact is Daniel P. Ducore, 202-326-2526; see press releases dated November 30 and December 22, 1999; January 21, February 4, March 1, March 24, March 31, April 18, April 25, May 2, May 12, May 19, July 7, July 18, October 6, and December 19, 2000; January 30, 2001, and December 7, 2001.)

Publication of Federal Register notice:

The Commission has approved publication of a Federal Register notice initiating a rulemaking proceeding pursuant to Rule 8 of the FTC's Textile Rules and Section 7(c) of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, and requesting public comment through April 19, 2002 regarding whether Section 7(c) of the Textile Rules should be amended to describe a new fiber created by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) called T400.

In its petition for a new generic subclass name, DuPont stated that T400 is an inherently elastic, bicomponent, manufactured fiber consisting of two substantially different forms of polyester fibers. The company contends that T400 is distinguished from commercially available fibers by a significant and long-lived stretch and recovery characteristic fitting between conventional textured polyesters and spandex. Accordingly, DuPont has requested that the Commission establish the generic name "elasterell-p" as an alternative to, and subclass of, "polyester."

As noted in the Federal Register notice, which will be published shortly and is available on the FTC's Web site, DuPont's petition also stated that a consumer's ability to identify readily products made from T400 by using a new generic term (such as elasterell-p) would be in the public interest. Information about how to comment on the proposed rulemaking can be found in the Federal Register notice. The Commission vote to approve publication of the Federal Register notice was 5-0. Public comments will be accepted through April 19, 2002. (FTC File No. P948404; staff contact is Neil J. Blickman, Bureau of Consumer Protection; 202-326-3038.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. For more information, call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.