A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order against a Utah company that was allegedly selling counterfeit medical masks at elevated prices.
3M sued Rx2Live in the Eastern District of California for allegedly using 3M’s trademarks to put forth a false and deceptive price-gouging scheme on unwitting customers and consumers, including Fresno-based healthcare provider Community Medical Centers during the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to 3M’s complaint signed by attorney Dale Giali.
“The fact that the court granted the Temporary Restraining Orders means that 3M will likely win and that what the defendant is doing is wrong,” said Rex Parris, an attorney. “Courts don’t grant TROs lightly.”
Federal Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone ordered defendants to appear before U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on May 12 at 10 a.m. by telephone for a show cause hearing.
“3M seeks temporary injunctive and preliminary relief to prevent defendants RX2Live, LLC and RX2Live, Inc. from using 3M’s trademarks in connection with defendants’ promotion of goods or services, including plaintiff’s 3M-brand N95 respirators,” wrote Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone in his April 30 order. “No defendant has filed an opposition to the pending motion or otherwise attempted to communicate with the court. Having reviewed the record and the relevant authorities, the court grants the motion for a TRO.”
The lawsuit states that the defendant sold or offered to sell 3M’s branded N95 respirators for a price of more than 10 percent greater than charged by 3M for those same masks.
“I am not surprised,” Parris told the Southern California Record. “There’s always 1 percent who seek to profit off the misery of the majority.”
Rx2Live representative Virginia Cooper contacted Community Medical Centers in Fresno by email to advertise PPE products available through Rx2Live, including 3M-brand N95 respirators, according to the complaint, and Cooper allegedly perpetrated the fraud over a few days by providing CMC with additional promotional materials, including a price list and a PowerPoint presentation revealing that both documents were edited by Alex Myers, a management-level employee of defendant.
“The PowerPoint presentation stated that a minimum order of 10 million masks was required at grossly inflated purchase prices of $52 million for surgical masks and $49.5 million for standard masks compared to 3M’s list prices of $12.7 million and $10.2- $13.1 million, respectively,” wrote 3M’s attorney Giali. “The PowerPoint presentation further indicated that 3M requires payment in full before order can be placed. Payment is held in escrow until the order is completed. Virtually all of these statements are false, deceptive, and/or unlawful.”
3M filed similar lawsuits against Performance Supply in New York Southern District Court and Geftico in the Middle District of Florida Orlando Division, according to a press release.
“3M will continue to take action against those who exploit the demand for N95 respirators used by healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 fight,” said Denise Rutherford, senior vice president of corporate affairs with 3M. “We will continue to work with state, federal and international law enforcement to root out illegal behavior and put a stop to it.”