Court Grants Summary Judgment for Client in Painaway v. MaxRelief

Dilworth Paxson partners James Rodgers and Silvio Trentalange recently secured the dismissal of a Lanham Act claim against client MaxRelief USA, Inc., via summary judgment.

The ruling came after a competitor asserted that MaxRelief USA’s slogan—which described its pain relief spray and cream products as “Australia’s #1”—was false advertising. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania disagreed and dismissed the case on summary judgment while wholly adopting DP’s arguments.

The Court’s findings include:

(1) MaxRelief USA’s use of “Australia’s #1” was mere puffery because it was a subjective, unquantifiable claim.

(2) The competitor failed to present any evidence that MaxRelief USA’s use of the “Australia’s #1” slogan deceived the purchasing public or influenced consumer decision.

(3) The competitor failed to present any evidence that it lost sales to MaxRelief USA because of MaxRelief USA using the “Australia’s #1” slogan.