Court Grants Olympic Optical's Preliminary Injunction Motion and Finds "Material" Compliance With American National Standards Institute Insufficient

Olympic Optical Co., a designer and distributor of safety eyewear products, represented by Rothwell, Figg (Frank Rothwell, Steve Lieberman and Rob Cameron), successfully brought a motion for preliminary injunction against a competitor, Wolf Peak International Inc., on a false advertising claim under the Lanham Act (Outdoor Optics Inc. d/b/a Olympic Optical Co. v. Wolf Peak International Inc., D. Utah, No. 1:02 CV160 TS). The Court found that Wolf Peak had falsely represented to its customers that its safety eyewear products met a safety standard promulgated by the American National Standards Institute ("ANSI"). In its Order dated December 19, 2003, granting Olympic Optical's preliminary injunction motion, the Court agreed with Olympic that the standard did not allow for mere "material" compliance with various optical requirements, but compliance with all of the ANSI standard's requirements in their entirety. The Court also barred Wolf Peak from claiming in its advertisements that its safety eyewear products were in full compliance with the ANSI standard until it had obtained certification of full compliance from an accredited testing laboratory.

Full text at http://pub.bna.com/ptcj/102160.pdf.