Ariix, LLC v. Nutrisearch Corporation

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 ARIIX, LLC, Case No.: 17CV320-LAB (BGS)

Plaintiff,

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO

v. DISMISS [Dkt. 54] NUTRISEARCH CORPORATION, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff Ariix, LLC (“Ariix”) is a nutritional supplement company that brings this suit against its competitor, USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (“USANA”), as well as NutriSearch Corporation (“NutriSearch”), the publisher of the NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements (“Guide”), and Lyle MacWilliam, the Guide’s author. The Guide offers reviews of various companies’ products, like those of both Ariix and USANA, and it is relied on by consumers and professionals, including independent sales representatives who make decisions based in part on ratings in the Guide. Ariix contends that NutriSearch and MacWilliam, despite widely promoting the Guide as using an objective rating system, were in fact directly funded by USANA so that it could achieve the…