Legal News

Both sides juiced by jury decision in Pom v. Welch

By Richard Binder

The jury reached a verdict on Monday in the latest skirmish between Welch Foods Inc. and Pom Wonderful LLC, and it satisfied both parties - and a little bit not.

The jury found that Welch's did deceive customers through the packaging, labeling or advertising of its White Grape Pomegranate juice and that the company did intend to do so.  However, the jury also concluded that Pom did not lose sales as a result of the deception.

Pom Wonderful President Matt Tupper said in a press release on Tuesday, "Pom has always been an advocate of honest labeling, and we hope the evidence in this trial sends a clear message to packaged food manufacturers that it's time to be fully transparent with consumers about what their products truly contain."

Welch's lawyer, Rick Shackelford, told The National Law Journal that he was disappointed that the jury found that Welch's deceived consumers, but urged observers to consider the context. "What the jury found is Pom didn't prove any injury," he said. "Part of our narrative was that consumers didn't find our product to be confusing with Pom's product. Whatever they felt about our label or the like, they didn't get us confused with Pom, which is an important finding."

Full story at NLJ.com.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on September 16, 2010 (boomark / email).