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Supreme Court Upholds Lanham Act Claim in Juice Wars

BY Kyle-Beth Hilfer
August 02, 2014

Pomegranate juice is the subject of an intense legal battle between POM Wonderful, LLC (POM) and Coca-Cola Company (Coke). In its Lanham Act challenge, POM alleges that Coke's juice product's name, label, marketing and advertising mislead consumers into thinking the product is mostly a pomegranate and blueberry juice when it in fact is mostly apple and grape juice. POM further alleges that Coke's tactics have caused POM to lose sales. Coke counters that it meets Federal Drug and Cosmetics Act (FDCA) requirements for its juice name and label, and that the FDCA's regulations preclude any Lanham Act claim. The viability of the Lanham Act challenge traveled all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in April 2014, the Court issued its ruling on “the intersection and complementarity of two federal laws” and “whether a private party may bring a Lanham Act claim challenging a food label that is regulated by the [FDCA].” Ultimately, the Supreme Court supported POM's ability to bring its Lanham Act claims, despite the fact that Coke's product complied with the FDCA's requirements.

Factual Background

On its website, POM calls itself the “largest grower of pomegranates in the United States.” Among its offerings, the company sells “POM WONDERFUL” brand bottled pomegranate juice and a pomegranate blueberry juice blend. Its competitor, Coke, markets a “pomegranate blueberry flavored” juice. Coke's product is 99.4% apple and grape juice, 0.3% pomegranate juice, 0.2% blueberry juice, and .1% raspberry juice. The parties could not agree on the name of the product, with POM saying it is called “Pomegranate Blueberry” and Coke retorting that the full name is “Pomegranate Blueberry Flavored Blend of 5 Juices.”

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