Pom Wonderful LLC v. Purely Juice, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

POM Wonderful LLC (“POM”) sued for false advertising under § 43(a) of the Lan-ham Act and § 17500 of the California Business and Professions Code, and for unfair competition under § 17200 of the California Code. POM alleged Purely Juice, Inc. and its president, Paul Hachigi-an, marketed “100%” pomegranate juice with “no added sugar,” but “knew or should have known” the juice was adulterated making the representations false. After a bench trial, the district court found Purely Juice and Hachigian liable and awarded POM damages of $1,192,905, disgorgement of $305,137 in profits, and attorneys’ fees and costs of $622,755.52. The parties know the record, so not all facts are set out below.

I. “Intent” is not a required element of a Lanham Act false advertising claim

It is settled that intent is not an element of a Lanham Act false advertising claim. See J. Thomas McCarthy, 5 McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition § 27:51 (4th ed. 2008) (“McCarthy”). We have made clear by implication that intent is not an element of such a claim. See William H. Morris Co. v. Group W., Inc., 66 F.3d 255, 258-59 (9th Cir.1995). Therefore, the district court did not err in holding…