A story of nutritional supplements, and untruths
Del-Immune V®, a nutritional supplement that has been shown to help people obtain substantially enhanced results from their immune system, is used by thousands of people in the U.S. and a dozen other countries, and many doctors recommend Del-Immune V® to their patients.
In 1999 a retired pharmacist from Boulder, Colorado formed a company called Pure Research Products, LLC to produce and market Del-Immune V®. In February 2004, the pharmacist met with representatives from a company called Allergy Research Group, Inc. (ARG). ARG began promoting Del-Immune V®, purchasing it from Pure Research Products for sale to the general public under the brand name Delta Immune, as authorized by Pure Research Products.
In November 2004, Pure Research Products, realizing they disagreed with ARG’s business practices, stopped selling them Del-Immune® and informed ARG they were no longer authorized to use the names Del-Immune V® or Delta Immune. Within four months, ARG began marketing a Vietnamese product under the name Russian Choice Immune®. Marketing materials used by ARG described Russian Choice Immune® almost identically to marketing materials describing Delta Immune/Del-Immune V®, effectively advertising that Russian Choice Immune® was the same as Del-Immune V®.
Pure Research Products objected and brought a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (civil action No. 06-cv-00381-RPM) claiming unfair competition under a federal statute called the Lanham Act.
A Clear Case of Misrepresentation
Del-Immune V® is a nutritional supplement shown to trigger activators in the immune system that quickly start the body’s natural protective response against foreign invaders that could compromise wellness. Russian Choice Immune® (improperly claimed to be Delta Immune) had claimed to deliver similar or identical health benefits.
In civil action No. 06-cv-00381-RPM, a jury in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado ruled that Allergy Research Group (ARG, a.k.a. Nutricology), violated the Lanham Act by falsely designating the origin of Russian Choice Immune® and also by falsely advertising the product. The Lanham Act, a federal statute also known as the “U.S. Trademark Act,” prohibits a number of activities, including false advertising and/or misrepresentation of a product—practices commonly referred to as “passing off” one product for another—such as ARG’s attempt to market Russian Choice Immune® as being identical to Del-Immune V®/Delta Immune. Furthermore, the Lanham Act prohibits false advertising of a product in interstate commerce.
In its case against ARG’s marketing of Russian Choice Immune®, Pure Research Products proved via extensive testimony and a preponderance of evidence that product origin and marketing claims made by ARG on behalf of Russian Choice Immune® were in violation of the Lanham Act. Specifically, Pure Research Products successfully proved that ARG falsely and illegally represented its Russian Choice Immune® product as being the same as Del-Immune V®/Delta Immune.
Click here to view documentation of an analytical comparison between Del-Immune V® and Russian Choice Immune® (PDF)
There Are Laws Against That
It’s illegal to “pass off” one product for another
The Lanham Act was enacted to, among other measures, prevent people and companies from falsely claiming that their products are similar to other products. The Lanham Act was the center of contention between these two nutritional supplement products.
The purpose of the lawsuit was to prove that Russian Choice Immune® is neither Del-Immune V® nor Delta Immune, but rather a completely different product, and that many aspects of the marketing materials utilized for Russian Choice Immune® were improper and unauthorized.
Allergy Research Group had formerly called Russian Choice Immune® “Delta Immune.” Del-Immune V® is a nutritional supplement evolving from more than 50 years of research in Bulgaria, Russia, the Ukraine and the United States. Del-Immune V® has been shown to help people obtain maximum results from their immune system. The human immune system is the body’s natural defense against foreign invaders that can lead to illness.
Russian Choice Immune® had been manufactured in Vietnam. In its ruling in favor of Pure Research Products, the Colorado jury decided that Allergy Research Group’s use of the term, “formerly Delta Immune,” and the use of product information and marketing materials related to Del-Immune V® constituted a false representation with respect to the origin, source or other attributes of Russian Choice Immune®. The jury also ruled that Allergy Research Group had likely caused confusion among the general public by advertising that Russian Choice Immune® supplements came from the same source as Del-Immune V®. Furthermore, the jury decided that Allergy Research Group falsely advertised Russian Choice Immune® by giving an untrue or misleading impression that Russian Choice Immune® is the same product as Del-Immune V®.
