Kramer Levin Secures Appellate Victory for Client Procter & Gamble

On January 24, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided in favor of Kramer Levin client Procter & Gamble, by refusing to grant plaintiffs leave to appeal an order denying their motion for class certification of false advertising claims brought against Procter & Gamble and others under the Lanham Act.

Last year, a group of professional salons moved to certify a class of salons and stylists who claimed that Procter & Gamble and other defendant-manufacturers falsely advertise their hair products as exclusively available in salons, when their products are in fact available in the mass market through a phenomenon called “diversion.” Judge Denise L. Cote of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied plaintiffs’ motion, finding that plaintiffs failed to satisfy the requirements for pursuing their claims as representatives of a class. Plaintiffs petitioned the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for leave to appeal, arguing that the District Court had erred by not certifying the class.

The Second Circuit agreed with defendants’ arguments, and held that an appeal from Judge Cote’s order is unwarranted. The Kramer Levin team consisted of Litigation partners Harold P. Weinberger and Norman C. Simon, and Litigation associate Eileen M. Patt.