HOUSTON – Jurors in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas on July 23 awarded $1.3 million in damages to Illinois Tool Works and its ITW Global Brands division, manufacturer of Rain-X, in a false advertising suit against Rust-Oleum Corp.
The award was to compensate for losses due to false advertising by Rust-Oleum Corp., manufacturer of competitive product RainBrella. Both products are marketed as water-repellents for car windshields and exterior glass.
Rust-Oleum was charged with violation of the federal Lanham Act and jurors had been hearing arguments in this case since July 16. Illinois Tool Works filed a suit in July 2017 against Rust-Oleum over allegations of false advertising.
As quoted in the jury charge, Judge David Hittner went over the stipulation of facts before the jurors began their deliberation and charged them to decide the case “in a fair, impartial, and unbiased manner, based entirely on the law and on the evidence presented to you in the courtroom.”
The jury was asked to vote “yes” or “no” concerning some of the claims put forth by Rust-Oleum. According to the jury charge, they were asked, “Do you find that Rust-Oleum is liable for false advertising for making the claim that RainBrella 'lasts 2x longer than Rain-X' and 'lasts 2x longer than 'the leading competitor?'” The jury voted yes.
They were also asked to vote “yes” or “no” on whether Rust-Oleum is liable for false advertising for stating in its television commercial, “'And remember, RainBrella lasts twice as long a Rain-X. We ran it through 100 car washes to prove it,'" The jury voted yes on this also.
And, finally, they were asked, “Do you find that Rust-Oleum is liable for misleading advertising based on its claim that RainBrella 'Lasts over 100 car washes?'” They all voted yes on this issue as well.
Finally, jurors were also asked to determine an amount of compensation for disgorgement of Rust-Oleum’s profits. To compensate for this loss, they awarded $392,406 to Illinois Tool Works. In addition, they awarded $925,617 for corrective advertising, making a total award of $1.3 million.