Facts

Plaintiff Out of the Box Enterprises, LLC brought suit against Defendants El Paseo Jewelry Exchange Inc., El Paseo Jewelry, Inc., Raju Mehta, and Ivan Kalensky for false advertising under the Lanham Act and California's Unfair Competition laws, alleging that Defendants, who operated a gold buying business in Palm Desert, falsely advertised that they bought used gold jewelry from consumers for a price equal to 92 percent of the then market value of the gold content of the jewelry.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff claimed that Defendants' advertising was false, and that they intentionally misstated the karat content, weight, and market price of the gold, and paid a price materially less than what it advertised.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendants claimed that they paid the advertised price.

Damages

Plaintiff sought $1,423,705 in disgorgement, $3,404,000 in lost profits, and trebling of damages.

Result

Plaintiff's verdict for $2,380,355 comprised of $1,500,000 lost profits and $880,355 disgorgement. The Court denied enhancement of the award, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees.

Other Information

A new trial motion is pending before the court. FILING DATE: Oct. 30, 2012.

Deliberation

8 hours

Length

nine days