Multiple Energy Technologies LLC, the maker of Redwave®-brand bioceramics, filed a lawsuit today in the United States District Court of California, Central District, against Hologenix LLC for making false and misleading claims about the Hologenix competing product, Celliant®, in violation of the Lanham Act. MET believes that these false claims have persuaded customers, potential customers, manufacturers and consumers to switch from using Redwave or buying Redwave-containing products to using Celliant or buying Celliant-containing products, causing millions of dollars in damages to MET.

On its website and in social media and press releases, Hologenix has made false statements regarding its product, alternately stating that the Food and Drug Administration has “determined” that Celliant provides health benefits or that the FDA has “approved” Celliant. Hologenix has made these claims in its Twitter feed, on its Facebook page and in other social media. Hologenix has repeatedly used the hashtag “#FDAapproved” when tweeting about its product.

The false claims attracted supportive media attention in Huffington Post, Shape Inc., WWD Digital Daily, Gear Patrol and Talking Points Memo, which repeated Celliant’s “FDA approval.” As alleged in MET’s federal court complaint, in fact, the FDA has neither “approved” Celliant nor made any determination about its purported health benefits.

MET’s attorney, Barry W. Lee of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, commented: “By claiming the FDA has approved Celliant when it has not, Hologenix is deceiving consumers and manufacturing partners by trading on the reputation of a federal agency. This is exactly the sort of unfair and deceptive practice that the Lanham Act and other federal laws are designed to prevent. And MET intends to vigorously pursue its rights and protect its product.”