LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - The maker of Altoids says a recent pro-defendant ruling in consumer deception class actions should push a federal judge to throw out the case against it.
Los Angeles federal judge John Kronstadt dismissed some of the claims previously but allowed others to move forward, finding the front label of Altoids, which features the word "CINNAMON" and images of cinnamon sticks "could cause a reasonable consumer to find the meaning ambiguous."
The label also features the words "artificially flavored," as the Altoids do not contain real cinnamon.
On June 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dealt a blow to lawsuits like this one, when it told a plaintiff suing over Pantene Pro-V Nature Fusion who claimed misrepresentation because the shampoo contained synthetic ingredients that he should've read the ingredients list.
"The front label of a product must be unambiguously deceptive for a defendant to be precluded from insisting that the back label of the product be considered together with the front label to defeat claims for violations of California's False Advertising Law, Unfair Competition Law, and Consumers Legal Remedies Act," the Ninth Circuit held.
Mars is asking Judge Kronstadt to revisit his ruling in the Altoids case in light of this development from the Ninth Circuit. His decision not to consider information on the back label is contrary to the Pantene case, it argues.
"When faced with an ambiguous front label, McGinity provides that courts 'must consider what additional information other than the front label was available to consumers,' including 'by reference to the back label,'" the motion says.
"In its Order, however, this Court rejected Mars' argument that it could look to the back label to resolve any ambiguity on the front label."
The Pantene case is a change in controlling law that requires reconsideration, Mars says.
"If the Court agrees that the Order conflicts with McGinity, failing to reconsider now would unfairly prejudice Mars and unduly burden the Court with the continued litigation of claims that should be dismissed as a matter of law," Mars says.
Mars is represented by Stephen Raber and Angela Pyo of Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C.