Court sides with POM Wonderful in beverage fight
National News
A federal appeals court has sided with juice maker POM Wonderful in a lawsuit over another beverage company's use of the term "pom."
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling that denied POM Wonderful's request for a preliminary injunction against Portland, Oregon-based Pur Beverages.
POM Wonderful argues that Pur Beverages' use of the term "pom" on a pomegranate energy drink is a violation of POM Wonderful's trademarks. A lower court said POM Wonderful was unlikely to succeed in the case and denied the company's request to stop Pur Beverages from selling the drink.
The 9th Circuit disagreed and ordered the lower court to reconsider the preliminary injunction.
Pur Beverages President Robert Hubbard says he still doesn't think POM Wonderful will be granted a preliminary injunction.
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.