Case 1:09-cv-07297-DAB 53 Page Lawsuit
Dr Oz and Oprah Winfrey vs MLM Scams
A quick summary is the lawsuit identified 52 specific defendents and 500 unnamed affiliate defendents who used Oprah Winfrey and Dr Oz name without approval, copyright materials, videos and falsely portraying Oprah Winfrey and Dr Mehmet Oz as celebrity endorsements for marketing products. The jurisdiction mainly identified as selling in NY, where the lawsuit was filed.
According to the allegation, The defendents were using the internet, including but not limited to affiliate websites, blogs, articles and press releases.
Here's more details about allegations and damaging evidence of misrepresentations and defamation of character as well as credit card fraud, false health claims and consumer marketing deception:
On August 19,2009 Dr Mehmet Oz and HARPO LLC (company owned by Oprah Winfrey) filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York City United States.
The Lawsuit can be seen in PDF format (link removed 4/5/2016; final status of lawsuit unknown):
Oprah MLM Lawsuit
NOTE: 1.72 MB file, may take a moment to be available, will appear in a new window.
some of The Lawsuit details include:
1. Dr. Oz, a renowned doctor who regularly appeared on television on the talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show ("TOWS") and who will host the soon to premier The Dr. Oz Show, Zo-Co, the owner of the Dr. Oz family of trademarks OW the holder of the right of publicity rights of Oprah Winfrey - one of the most famous and respected individuals in the world and Harpo, the owner of the "OPRAH" and "O" family of trademarks and the copyrights in the number one rated award winning TOWS bring this action Seeking injunctive relief and damages for the Defendants' deceptive and fraudulent practices that have harmed them (Dr Oz & Oprah) and thousands of consumers who have been and are injured by Defendants' conduct.
2. Defendants are sellers, suppliers, importers and/or marketers of products that purport to be dietary supplements, such as for "resveratrol, acai berry, colon cleansing, cosmetics, such as cellulite and anti-wrinkle creams and/or over the counter drugs such as tooth whitening products (all together these products are now called the Infringing Products). These products include but are not limited to:
- Resveratrol Ultra
- ResV
- ResV Pure
- ResV Pro
- Youth ResV
- ResVer XP
- Acai Berry Breeze
- Acai X3
- Acai Pure
- Acai Berry Detox
- Acai Edge
- Acai Burn
- Body Solutions
- Nature Cleanse
- Colon Pro Cleanse
- Power Colon Cleanse
- Colon Max
- Whitening Now
- Easy White
- Cellutone
- Cosmetyn
3. These defendants are willfully capitalizing on Plaintiffs' valuable reputation and intellectual property rights to lure consumers into ordering the Infringing Products on the false premise that they have been tested or recommended by Ms. Winfrey and/or Dr Oz when they have not. Defendants are fabricating quotes or falsely purporting to speak in Dr Oz's and/or Ms. Winfrey's voice about specific brands and products that neither of them has endorsed. Defendants' conduct has gravely injured Plaintiffs' reputations. Plaintiffs seek to stop the unauthorized and unlawful use of Dr Oz and Ms Winfrey's names, pictures, voices and identities and Harpos and Zo Co's trademarks and copyrighted works in connection with Defendants' marketing and sales of or offers to sell the Infringing Products.
4. Upon information and belief many of Defendants offers turn out to be credit card scams and other fraudulent schemes by which Defendant
- charge customers despite advertising that the Infringing Products are available for a free trial
- fail to fulfill orders despite charging consumers
- charge consumers for monthly subscriptions of Infringing Products without the consumers having signed up for any such subscription
5. Defendants conduct also raises serious public health and safety concerns because many, if not all of the defendants are illegally marketing the Infringing Products, which are not approved as drugs as a means to cure, mitigate, treat or prevent diseases, illnesses or serious conditions. Such marketing messages are, upon information and belief, unsubstatiated and unauthorized health claims which Defendants falsely attribute to Dr Oz and Ms Winfrey.
6. Defendants are brazenly using Plaintiffs property and infringing upon their rights despite repeated requests that they cease and desist from such use and/or Plaintiffs other extensive efforts to put a stop to such unauthorized and unlawful use.
7. Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief, damages, including exemplary and punitive damages and attorney fees under various causes of action, for violation of their statutory rights of privacy and publicity under New York Civil Rights Law 50 and 51 and the Illinois Right of Publicity Act 765 ILCS 1075/1 et seq. trademark infringement, false endorsements, sponsorship or affiliation and dilution under Sections 32 and 43 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (the Lanham Act) 15 USC 1114 1116-1118 and 1125, copyright infringement under the Copyright Act 17 USC 101 et seq deceptive acts and practices under New York General Business Law 349, false advertising under New York General Business Law 350, violation of the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, cybersquatting under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act 15 USC 1125, common law unfair competition, and unjust enrichment.
The lawsuit went on to identify 500 websites in an attachment that used Oprah or Dr Oz name, trademarks, or copyright material. In addition, actual 52 names and addresses of MLM companies, distributors and advertisers were identified. The allegations are very strong and the Plaintiff(s) reserves the right to post an addendum upon discovering more information about the distributors, affiliates, owners, locations and contact details of the defendants.
Here are some of the Defendants (companies and names) and the allegations of participation identified in this first revision of Oprah vs MLM lawsuit August 2009:
1. Defendant FWM Laboratories, Florida supplier of Maximum ResV, ACAI X3, Acai Berry Detox, Resveratrol Ultra, ResMelts, Colon Max and Resvie. websites & affiliate marketing
2. Defendant CPX Interactive LLC, New York advertising with banner ads
3. Defendant Netalab Corp, Florida supplier Pure ResV Pro, South Beach Java, Acai Energy and RezV Advance. websites and affiliate marketing
4. Defendant Gillmap Limited a/k/a Natures Perfection, Iowa & Idaho suppier of ACAI Burn, Pure ResV and Colon Revitalize.interactive websites and affiliate marketing
5. Defendant MiniRED UAB, California supplier of Acai Ultimate, Power Colon Cleanse and Vital RezV. websites and affiliate marketing
6. Defendant Nutra Lane LLC a/k/a GNS Global LLC, Nevada and Colorado. supplier of Acai Berry Elite, ACAI Edge, Res Ver XP and ResV. websites and affiliate marketing
7. Defendant Central Coast Nutraceuticals a/k/a CCN Inc, Arizona. supplier of Acai Pur, Acai Power Blast, and Acai Blast. websites and affiliate marketing.
8. Defendant Pure Nutrients, New York, supplier of Natural Cleanse. websites and affiliate marketing.
9. Defendant B67 Nutra Pure Systems a/k/a 96R Pure Nature Products a/k/a P67 Wie Natural Products LLC, (location unidentified) suppliers of ResV Pure. websites and affiliate marketing
10. Defendant SFL Nutrition, Florida, supplier of Acai Berry Supreme, Total Cleanse, Colon xR and Colon rX. websites and affiliate marketing
11. Defendant Acai Berry Breeze, Arizona, supplier of Acai Berry Breeze and UltraSlim XS. websites and affiliate marketing
12. Defendant Life Fit Labs LLC, Michigan, supplier of Colon Cleanse, Colon Cleanse Pro, Probiotic Complete and Goji Trim Pro. websites and affiliate marketing
13. Defendant Rejuvenate Worldwide, Texas, supplier of Certified Resveratrol, Colon Pro Cleanse and Miracle Resveratrol. websites and affiliate marketing
14. Defendant HealthBuy a/k/a Health Buy Ltd, California, supplier of Acai Berry Select and Resveratrol Select. websites and affiliate marketing
15. Defendant Physical Enhancement Labs, Oklahoma, supplier Acai Berry Blast and Acai Blast. websites and affiliate marketing
16. Defendant MyColonRelief, California, supplier of My Colon Relief, websites and affiliate marketing
17. Defendant XM Lab LLC a/k/a rX Labs (location unidentified) supplier of Acai Flush, ResV Ultra. websites and affiliate marketing
18. Defendant Rauscher Bekke, LLC a/k/a ResVLife LLC a/k/a Res-V-Life, Inc, Florida, supplier of Dermapril, Dermapril-SP and ResVL Life. websites and affiliate marketing
19. Defendant Body Solution, California, supplier of Body Solution and Striation. webistes and affiliate marketing
20. Defendant 456 Vital Health Systems LLC a/k/a FCM Performance Health USA a/k/a AEG Partners Ltd, Utah, supplier of ResV Pro. websites and affiliate marketing
21. Defendant JDW Media, LLC Idaho, supplier of Pure Cleanse and Acai Ultra Burn. websites and affiliate marketing
22. Defendant Pure Vitamins, New York, supplier of Phosphacore and Eternal RezV. websites and affiliate marketing
23. Defendant XLENT Health, Wisconsin, supplier of Res-V and Energai. websites and affiliate marketing
24. Defendant Organica Research LLC, Colorado, supplier of Ultimate Colon Cleanse websites and affiliate marketing
25. Defendant Incline Health Ltd, Texas, supplier of ResV Daily, Acai Fuel Extreme and Acai Fuel Cleanse. websites and affiliate marketing
26. Defendant Health Technology, California, supplier of Acai Away and Youth ResV. websites and affiliate marketing
27. Defendant Natural Source Store LLC, Florida, supplier of Cosmetyn. websites and affiliate marketing
28. Defendant 0841092 B.C. Ltd, New Jersey, supplier of Resvermax, Premium Acai Berry, Slim Berry and Procolo. websites and affiliate marketing
29. Defendant Bottom Two Investments a/k/a Nutra Foods, Delaware supplier of Acai Resolution, Acai Nutraburst, RezEX, Maqui Nutraburst and Exilatrol. websites and affiliate marketing
30. Defendant HealthRezV, LLC a/k/a HealthRezV, California, suppliers of HealthRezV websites and affiliating marketing
31. Defendant Healthy Colon, Inc a/k/a Healthy Colon LLC, (location unidentified) supplier of Body Flush websites and affiliate marketing
32. Defendant Redux-V Holdings Inc a/k/a Redux Holdings Inc a/k/a Naturade Inc, California, supplier of Redux-V websites and affiliate marketing
33. Defendant Easy White, Inc a/k/a Easy White Labs, Florida, supplier Easy White websites and affiliate marketing
34. Defendant Jet Processing, Florida, supplier of Acai Natura Burn websites and affiliate marketing
35. Defendant Monavie AS, LLC a/k/a Monavie Holdings International LLC a/k/a Monaive LLC a/k/a Monavie, Utah, supplier of Monavie ( Acai Berry ) websites and affiliate marketing
36. Defendant Brazilian Basics, Maine, supplier of Acai Energy websites and affiliate marketing
37. Defendant L-avenir, New Jersey, supplier of Cellutone websites and affiliate marekting
38. Defendant Ultra Green Products LLC a/k/a Ultra Green Products, Florida, supplier of Goji Raw and Resveratrol Lifeline. websites and affiliate marketing
39. Defendant Rez-Berries a/k/a RezActiv a/k/a Res Q, Colorado, supplier of Rez Activ websites and affiliate marketing
40. Defendant Crush LLC, Utah, supplier of Acai Berry 500 websites and affiliate marketing
41. Defendant 3V Marketing LLC, Maine, supplier of Acai Advance and Acai Advanced websites and affiliate marketing
42. Defendant James Russel, Connecticut, websites
43. Defendant Mike Johnson, California, websites
44. Defendant David Dube, Vermont, websites
45. Defendant Katherine Clements, Minnesota, websites
46. Defendant Pawel Reszka, Illinois, websites
47. Defendant Mike Koens, California, websites
48. Defendant Touvan Sughiarto, California, websites
49. Defendant Ryan Bukevicz, Pennsylvania, websites
50. Defendant Mark Swartz, New Jersey, websites
51. Defendant Matthew Kelly, New York, websites
52. Defendant Sidney Fein, New York, websites
53. Defendant John Doe & ABC Companies 1-500 (meaning 500 defendants not specifically identified) are affiliates, marketers, suppliers, manufacturers, and suppliers of said products through websites.
There are more details - review the actual lawuit in pdf format. The Lawsuit can be seen in PDF format (link removed 4/5/16, final status of lawsuit unknown):
Dr Oz MLM Lawsuit
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(disclaimer: bhip global and distributors are not affiliated with Dr Oz or Oprah Winfrey in any way. ... this blog post was simply information and all names are alleged involved. final status of lawsuit is not known as of 4/6/16) )
