For a consumer, the words "Fresh. Local. Quality." attached to a product might draw connotations of craft beer, artisan goods or farm-to-table restaurants. But could a competitor sue under the Lanham Act if those "local" goods are actually shipped over from a neighboring state? When the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals recently evaluated these words used to promote a bakery's bread, it deemed the tagline not actionable as false advertising and merely opinion. A lack of "verifiable factual meaning" prevented the words from being deemed true or false — no matter what the tagline might evoke.[i]
Along with bringing trade secret theft and trade dress infringement claims, Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. (Bimbo Bakeries) alleged that United States Bakery (US Bakery) engaged in false advertising when it used the tagline "Fresh. Local. Quality." to advertise US Bakery's bread in stores and on its delivery trucks. Following a trial in which Bimbo Bakeries provided survey evidence on what consumers believed "local" meant, a jury deemed US Bakery’s tagline false advertising and awarded Bimbo Bakeries over $8 million in damages. On review, the Tenth Circuit was unimpressed with the outcome.
Bimbo Bakeries focused its argument on the fact that US Bakeries claimed its bread was "local." However, US Bakeries baked some of its bread outside of the states in which they were sold. This was true for the loaves sold in California as well as in Utah following a bakery closure in that state. Through...
“When companies use kickbacks to influence prescribing, they erode trust in healthcare providers,” said special agent Helsing. Takeda Pharmaceuticals, U.S.A. Inc has agreed to $13,670,921 amid alle...