04.05.23
L'Oréal is not deceiving consumers over its French roots, according to a recent ruling. US Federal Court Judge Analisa Torres dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit this week, stating that "a mere reference to Paris" is not enough to deceive consumers as to where a product is made. One of the company's brand names is "L'Oréal Paris."
The plaintiff, Veronica Eshelby, accused the world's largest beauty company of misleading US consumers into believing the brand's beauty products are created in France. Eshelby accused L'Oréal of confusing consumers with labels featuring French text and the word "Paris."
In its defense, L'Oréal noted that the brand name doesn't mention a manufacturing location. For the record, L’Oréal was founded in Paris and the company’s global headquarters are based there.
The court order read: "L'Oréal argues that Eshelby has not plausibly pleaded that reasonable consumers are likely to be misled by L'Oréal's product packaging. The court agrees.
“Eshelby alleges that some of the allegedly misleading products do not contain French-language text on the packaging and are, therefore, misleading solely because the word 'Paris' appears on the packaging.
“As a matter of law, a mere reference to Paris is insufficient to deceive a reasonable consumer regarding the manufacturing location of a product."
In the ruling, Judge Torres went even further, noting:
"The word 'Paris' always appears in stylized text underneath the word 'L'Oréal' in the same font and color as the word 'L'Oréal,' such that a reasonable consumer would understand that 'Paris' is part of the brand name 'L'Oréal Paris’.
"L'Oréal has a right to use its brand name to correctly indicate that its products belong to the L'Oréal Paris brand."
The judge stated that none of the text on L’Oréal’s labels make any representations to the country of manufacture – except for the English disclosures on the back of each label that state the country where the product was manufactured.
“Even if a reasonable customer might infer from the brand name that L'Oréal originated in Paris, a reasonable customer would not also conclude that a specific product is made in Paris or elsewhere in France. The mere presence of words in a foreign language is insufficient to mislead a reasonable consumer.”
L'Oreal acquired Aesop from Natura &Co in multi-billion dollar deal.
The plaintiff, Veronica Eshelby, accused the world's largest beauty company of misleading US consumers into believing the brand's beauty products are created in France. Eshelby accused L'Oréal of confusing consumers with labels featuring French text and the word "Paris."
In its defense, L'Oréal noted that the brand name doesn't mention a manufacturing location. For the record, L’Oréal was founded in Paris and the company’s global headquarters are based there.
The Court's Ruling for L'Oréal
The court order read: "L'Oréal argues that Eshelby has not plausibly pleaded that reasonable consumers are likely to be misled by L'Oréal's product packaging. The court agrees.
“Eshelby alleges that some of the allegedly misleading products do not contain French-language text on the packaging and are, therefore, misleading solely because the word 'Paris' appears on the packaging.
“As a matter of law, a mere reference to Paris is insufficient to deceive a reasonable consumer regarding the manufacturing location of a product."
In the ruling, Judge Torres went even further, noting:
"The word 'Paris' always appears in stylized text underneath the word 'L'Oréal' in the same font and color as the word 'L'Oréal,' such that a reasonable consumer would understand that 'Paris' is part of the brand name 'L'Oréal Paris’.
"L'Oréal has a right to use its brand name to correctly indicate that its products belong to the L'Oréal Paris brand."
The judge stated that none of the text on L’Oréal’s labels make any representations to the country of manufacture – except for the English disclosures on the back of each label that state the country where the product was manufactured.
“Even if a reasonable customer might infer from the brand name that L'Oréal originated in Paris, a reasonable customer would not also conclude that a specific product is made in Paris or elsewhere in France. The mere presence of words in a foreign language is insufficient to mislead a reasonable consumer.”
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