Continental T.v., Inc., et al. v. Gte Sylvania Inc.

Decided June 23, 1977. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-15 · 433 U.S. 36 (1977) · Cited 1,218 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• United States v. Arnold, Schwinn & Co. · 388 U.S. 365 (1967)
• Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. United States · 356 U.S. 1 (1958)
• White Motor Co. v. United States · 372 U.S. 253 (1963)
• United States v. General Electric Co. · 272 U.S. 476 (1926)
• Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois · 431 U.S. 720 (1977)
• United States v. Colgate & Co. · 250 U.S. 300 (1919)
• United States v. Topco Associates, Inc. · 405 U.S. 596 (1972)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Runyon v. McCrary · 427 U.S. 160 (1976)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• United States v. Philadelphia National Bank · 374 U.S. 321 (1963)
• United States v. Parke, Davis & Co. · 362 U.S. 29 (1960)
• Kiefer-Stewart Co. v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. · 340 U.S. 211 (1951)
• Albrecht v. Herald Co. · 390 U.S. 145 (1968)
• United States v. General Motors Corp. · 384 U.S. 127 (1966)
• Simpson v. Union Oil Co. of Cal. · 377 U.S. 13 (1964)
• United States v. Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. · 321 U.S. 707 (1944)
• Appalachian Coals, Inc. v. United States · 288 U.S. 344 (1933)
• Maple Flooring Manufacturers Ass'n v. United States · 268 U.S. 563 (1925)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. · 551 U.S. 877 (2007)
• Business Electronics Corp. v. Sharp Electronics Corp. · 485 U.S. 717 (1988)
• Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Services, Inc. · 504 U.S. 451 (1992)
• Monsanto Co. v. Spray-Rite Service Corp. · 465 U.S. 752 (1984)
• Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society · 457 U.S. 332 (1982)
• National Society of Professional Engineers v. United States · 435 U.S. 679 (1978)
• National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma · 468 U.S. 85 (1984)
• Rice v. Norman Williams Co. · 458 U.S. 654 (1982)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Atlantic Richfield Co. v. USA Petroleum Co. · 495 U.S. 328 (1990)
• Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. · 441 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. · 557 U.S. 167 (2009)
• Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2 v. Hyde · 466 U.S. 2 (1984)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp. · 467 U.S. 752 (1984)
• 324 Liquor Corp. v. Duffy · 479 U.S. 335 (1987)
• Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
• Board of the County Commissioners of Bryan County v. Brown · 520 U.S. 397 (1997)
• Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc. · 473 U.S. 614 (1985)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• United States v. United States Gypsum Co. · 438 U.S. 422 (1978)
• Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp. · 472 U.S. 585 (1985)
• Ragsdale v. Wolverine World Wide, Inc. · 535 U.S. 81 (2002)
• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder · 455 U.S. 40 (1982)
• South-Central Timber Development, Inc. v. Wunnicke · 467 U.S. 82 (1984)
• St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance v. Barry · 438 U.S. 531 (1978)
• White v. Massachusetts Council of Construction Employers, Inc. · 460 U.S. 204 (1983)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Superior Court Trial Lawyers Ass'n · 493 U.S. 411 (1990)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).