On Thursday, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Lanham Act is not precluded by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. POM Wonderful LLC is a pomegranate juice producer that sued the Coca-Cola Company for deceptive labeling under the Lanham Act, which prevents companies from using unfair trade practices. In turn, the other federal statute involved in this case, the Federal, Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), prohibits food and drink misbranding.

In September 2007, Coca-Cola Company came out with a beverage called “Pomegranate Blueberry.” This beverage contains less than one percent of pomegranate and blueberry juices combined. Despite the image and the name on the label, this drink actually contains mostly apple and grape juices. POM argued that the label is misleading and is hurting their sales in light of the apple and grape juices’ lower price. Coca-Cola did have the phrase printed on the label in a smaller font saying “flavored blend of 5 juices” followed by in even smaller words “from concentrate with added ingredients.”

The trial court granted Coca-Cola’s partial summary judgment reasoning that the FDCA precludes the Lanham Act. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the ruling of the trail court noting the court cannot undercut the FDA’s judgments regarding Coca-Cola’s label. On Thursday, the United States Supreme Court ruled that while the Lanham Act and the FDCA have their own unique purpose, they should nonetheless complement each other. The Lanham Act protects the commercial interest, while the FDCA protects the general public.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the unanimous court “the ruling that POM’s Lanham Act cause of action is precluded by the FDCA was incorrect. There is no statutory text or established interpretive principle to support the contention that the FDCA precludes Lanham Acts suits like the one brought by POM in this case. 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. Competitors, in their own interest, may bring Lanham Act claims like POM’s that challenge food and beverage labels that are regulated by the FDCA.”

Thanks to this ruling, we may see a spike in litigation against companies like Coca-Cola who may mislabel products to get ahead of the competition.