Power Balance LLC announced that it has entered into an agreement to resolve a recent advertising-related class action lawsuit, Batungbacal v. Power Balance LLC et al., which was filed in a federal district court in California on Jan. 4, 2011. Under the terms of the agreement, Power Balance will provide full refunds, plus an amount for shipping and handling, to dissatisfied customers who join the class.
Power Balance will also make select changes to product claims and the ways in which it advertises and markets its products in order to better define the scope of its marketing claims. The agreement makes clear that there is no acknowledgement, admission, liability, wrongdoing, noncompliance or violation on the part of Power Balance. Importantly, Power Balance expects a series of related lawsuits to be resolved as a result of this settlement.
“We are pleased to resolve these matters, which will enable Power Balance to get back to the business of building a brand and further developing our Performance Technology,” said Nina Freeland-Ringel, general counsel for Power Balance. “As with many early technologies, especially one involving Eastern origins, we recognize the potential for confusion in the marketplace, and concede we may have gotten ahead of ourselves with claims about our first product. While we have yet to fully document the benefits of our initial product offering, we are wholly committed to the continued development of Power Balance products in association with athletes around the world.”
Power Balance and counsel for the plaintiff in Batungbacal on Friday filed papers requesting the Court's preliminary approval of the settlement. This case and related lawsuits stem from a similar matter involving Power Balance's Australian distributor and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which was resolved in December 2010.
