False Advertising Found in Using Chemical Common Names That Suggest Purity

A maker of nutrition supplements made literally false statements in its product literature by claiming to make a pure isomer product when in fact it was selling a less beneficial and less expensive to make mixture, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled Sept. 30 (Merck Eprova AG v. Gnosis S.p.A., S.D.N.Y., 1:07-cv-05898, 9/30/12).

The court further determined that the defendant’s corporate witnesses lied in court, justifying an enhanced award, attorneys’ fees, and additional expenses that will spent on a corrective advertising campaign.

The court’s enhanced award totaled over $525,000, three times the ...