Frompovicz v. Niagara Bottling, LLC

337 F. Supp. 3d 498
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided September 18, 2018·No. CIVIL ACTION NO. 18-54·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

WENDY BEETLESTONE, District Judge.

This dispute bubbles up before this Court again, presenting the question of who is selling genuine bottled "spring" water and who is not. See Frompovicz v. Niagara Bottling, LLC , 313 F.Supp.3d 603 (E.D. Pa 2018). Plaintiff, a water extractor, alleges that Defendants have violated the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), and Pennsylvania's unfair competition law by mislabeling their water as "spring water." One of the Defendants extracts water and three of them bottle, sell, and label the extracted water as "spring water." As a licensed extractor of spring water, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants' labeling of their non-spring water as "spring water" has damaged his business because the labels are designed to entice purchasers to buy Defendants' products under the false belief that their "spring water" is at least equal, if not superior, to Plaintiff's true spring water. Plaintiff brings this case as a putative class action for "[a]ll persons in the United States who, within the applicable statute of limitations preceding the filing of this action through class certification, extract and/or bottle spring water for sale in the United States," as well as a Pennsylvania subclass.

Defendants have filed Motions to Dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the reasons below, Defendants' motions are granted in part and denied in part.

I. FACTS

The following facts come from the Amended Complaint. Plaintiff is Stanley Frompovicz, who operates a spring water extraction business as Far Away Springs.1 Defendants are James Land,2 who is also engaged in the business of extracting and marketing water, and three water bottlers and distributors who purchase Land's water, namely Niagara Bottling Co., LLC ("Niagara"), Ice River Springs Water Co. Inc. ("Ice River"), and Crossroads Beverage Group ("Crossroads") (collectively "Bottler Defendants").

The gist of Plaintiff's claim is that Defendant Land fraudulently markets and sells "well water" as the more desirable "spring water" to the Bottler Defendants, who turn around and knowingly sell the spuriously labeled water to consumers, thereby diminishing Plaintiff's market to sell legitimate spring water to bottlers and consumers alike. The marketing and labeling is misleading, according to the Complaint, for four reasons. First, Defendant Land's water "does not satisfy the FDA's definition of 'spring water.' " Second, Defendant *504Land's facility is permitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as a "well water" site, and not a "spring water" site. Third, water extracted from Land's facility "has been extracted, handled, or treated with equipment or techniques that are inconsistent with a 'spring water' classification criteria." Last, water from Land's facility "has tested as containing more particulates or trace elements than are otherwise permissible or recommended under industry standards for 'spring water.' "

Plaintiff alleges he suffered commercial harm as a result of the misleading marketing and labeling. Defendants Niagara and Ice River sourced spring water from Plaintiff before switching to Defendant Land's water in 2009 and 2013 respectively, resulting in lost sales for Plaintiff. And in 2014, Defendant Crossroads considered purchasing Plaintiff's spring water before choosing to source from Defendant Land instead. In addition, the Complaint alleges that Plaintiff "also bottled his own spring water and directly sold it to customers."

Finally, the Complaint also alleges that Defendants Land and Niagara falsely disparaged Plaintiff's products, thus further harming his commercial interests.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff filed an initial Complaint in January of 2018. Defendants filed Motions to Dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). The Court dismissed the Lanham and state law claims against the Bottler Defendants without prejudice, but not against Defendant Land. Frompovicz , 313 F.Supp.3d at 607. This Court also held that Plaintiff's Lanham Act claims were not precluded by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FDCA). Id. at 616. Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint in June of 2018 and Defendants again filed Motions to Dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).

III. LEGAL STANDARD

"To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.' " Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Id. "Threadbare" recitations of the elements of a claim supported only by "conclusory statements" will not suffice. Id. at 683, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Rather, a plaintiff must allege some facts to raise the allegation above the level of mere speculation. Great Western Mining & Mineral Co. v.

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Frompovicz v. Niagara Bottling, LLC, 337 F. Supp. 3d 498 (E.D. Pa. 2018).

337 F. Supp. 3d 498 (Frompovicz v. Niagara Bottling, LLC) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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