Supreme Court Held Unfair Competition Claims are Not Precluded by FDCA in POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co.

In an opinion authored by Justice Kennedy on June 12, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court in POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co. rejected the notion that the FDCA and its regulations preclude Lanham Act challenges to the descriptions on a juice product label. POM Wonderful LLC, which produces a pomegranate-blueberry juice blend, filed a Lanham Act suit alleging that a Coca-Cola juice product label prominently displaying "pomegranate blueberry" on a blend of five juices that only contains 0.3% pomegranate juice and 0.2% blueberry juice is deceptive and misleading. POM brought the suit under § 43 of the Lanham Act, which allows competitors to allege unfair competition arising from false or misleading product descriptions.

The district court granted partial summary judgment to Coca-Cola on the basis that the FDCA and its regulations preclude Lanham Act challenges to the label of Coca-Cola's juice blend. The Ninth Circuit affirmed in relevant part.

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the rulings below were incorrect. "Nothing in the text, history, or structure of the FDCA or the Lanham Act shows the congressional purpose or design to forbid these suits. Quite to the contrary, the FDCA and the Lanham Act complement each other in the federal regulation of misleading food and beverage labels." Although both federal statutes touch on food and beverage labeling, the Lanham Act protects commercial interests against unfair competition, whereas the FDCA protects public health and safety by forbidding the misbranding of food, including by means of false or misleading labeling.

Likewise, these federal statutes complement each other with respect to remedies given that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) largely handles FDCA enforcement, whereas private parties can use competitors under the Lanham Act.

The Supreme Court reversed and remanded.

Source: POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co., 573 U.S. ___ (2014), available at: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/12-761_6k47.pdf

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