It's always nice when any litigation against the company is dismissed.
Nutraceutical International
Corporation Announces Dismissal Of
Trademark Infringement Action Filed by American
Cyanamid Co.
PARK CITY, Utah, July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Nutraceutical International Corporation (Nasdaq:
NUTR - news) announced today that a lawsuit filed by American Cyanamid Co., a subsidiary of
American Home Products Corp. (NYSE: AHP - news), has been dismissed with prejudice. The
litigation, referenced in earlier public filings made by Nutraceutical, ended when the United States
District Court for the District of New Jersey entered summary judgement in favor of Nutraceutical
and its subsidiaries. The case involved a claim by American Cyanamid that the Solaray ''rainbow''
logo as well as certain Kal labels infringed on the Centrum color spectrum.
As part of its opinion, the Court held that ''no reasonable juror could conclude that a likelihood of
confusion exists between Centrum's trademark and the Solaray and Kal labels.'' The Court also held
that ''plaintiff has totally failed to offer evidence by which a jury could find actual dilution through the
lessening of Centrum's selling power...'' Summary judgment was granted on all claims and the case
was dismissed with prejudice. The Court's opinion, dated May 28, 1999, has been submitted for
publication.
Bill Gay, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nutraceutical, commented, ''We are pleased to
have this litigation behind us. We are particularly happy with the careful and thorough reasoning of
the Court in ruling in our favor on all counts based on our motion for summary judgment. This
resolution should allow us to move forward in marketing our premier brands without any cloud of
possible trademark infringement claims from this case.''
Nutraceutical is one of the nation's largest manufacturers and marketers of quality branded products
sold to health food stores. The Company sells its branded products under the widely recognized
Solaray®, Kal®, NaturalMax®, VegLife®, Premier One®, Solar Green® Natural Sport® and
Action Labs®, brand names to health food stores in the United States and internationally to
distributors and stores. In addition to branded products, Nutraceutical manufactures premium bulk
formulations for sale to other manufactures and marketers in the nutritional supplement industry.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) encourages companies to disclose
forward-looking information so that investors can better understand a company's future prospects
and make informed investment decisions. Due to, among other things, the uncertainty associated with
the litigation and appeal process, the achievement of forward-looking statements contained in this
press release are subject to risks and uncertainties, including a risk that American Cyanamid Co.
could attempt to appeal the decision, in spite of the fact that, in Company's view, applicable appeal
deadlines have passed. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements contained herein. For further details and a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, see
the Company's SEC filings, which are updated from time to time, copies of which are available upon
request from the Company's investor relations department. |
