Everett’s daily newspaper, The Herald, recently reported on a trademark case going on in the District of New Jersey: OMS Investments, Inc., et al. v. TerraCycle, Inc. The plaintiff sellers of the MIRACLE-GRO line of plant food allege the defendant makes false and misleading claims about its TERRACYCLE plant food and infringes plaintiffs’ trade dress. Defendant denies plaintiffs’ claims.
The Herald’s gardening columnist, Debra Smith, sides with TerraCycle. Here’s her take on the dispute:
“The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., the big boy of lawn-and-garden products, is suing a tiny New Jersey Company that produces organic fertilizer made of worm poop.
“Yes, this is the very same company that sent me worm poop samples, which I talked about in my blog at www.heraldnet.com. The company, TerraCycle, manufactures all-natural fertilizers made from a worm poop compost tea and packaged in recycled soda bottles. What a novel idea: a product made and packaged almost entirely from garbage.
“In the complaint, Scotts claims TerraCycle’s yellow and green packaging infringes on its brand. Scotts also doesn’t like TerraCycle claiming its worm poop works better and is safer than synthetic fertilizers. Scotts is also demanding access to research and proprietary knowledge about how TerraCycle’s products are made.”
Not a bad summary for a layperson.
Ms. Smith goes on to say: “I had a box of TerraCycle’s worm poop products sitting on my desk, and I had no trouble figuring out they weren’t a Scotts Miracle Gro product. In fact, the worm poop packaging looked nothing like anything I’ve seen on the garden center shelf. Another big clue: The contents weren’t Smurf blue.”
It’s always interesting to learn what a potential juror might think after all the legal doctrine is stripped away. If Ms. Smith represents a typical New Jersey juror — though there’s no indication she does — I’d say Scotts should settle.
The case cite is OMS Investments, Inc. v. TerraCycle, Inc., No. 07-1064 (D.N.J.)