Court Order for Banfield To Stop All Sales of Microchips
Court Halts Nationwide Sale of Banfield Pet ID Chips
Fish &Richardson Announces Court Halts Nationwide Sale of Banfield Pet ID Chips
SAN DIEGO --(Business Wire)-- Nov. 4, 2004 -- Judge Cites Potential for "Serious, Irreparable Harm," Also Orders Banfield to Notify Customers and Vets of Product Limitations Citing "the potential for pets to be euthanized" as a result of deceptive advertising by Medical Management International, Inc. dba Banfield, the Pet Hospital, the San Diego Superior Court yesterday issued a preliminary injunction blocking Banfield from selling or advertising its pet ID microchips, sold under the name RecoveryChip. Banfield Pet Hospitals are located in PETsMART stores throughout the United States.
If Banfield wants to resume selling or promoting its RecoveryChip, the court must first approve that Banfield's proposed advertisements and other promotional materials disclose that the chip "cannot be read by the vast majority of (microchip) scanners in U.S. shelters."
Judge William C. Pate noted that Banfield's actions had created a "risk of great, irreparable harm... specifically the increased potential for pets to be euthanized while their owners believe them to be safe."
The order is a result of a consumer protection lawsuit filed in May 2004, after Banfield's distribution of its chips triggered a strong response by the pet shelter community calling on Banfield to halt its practice. Pet microchipping systems use a scanner (or reader) to read a small microchip transponder that is injected under the skin of a pet.
The vast majority of U.S. animal shelters and vet clinics utilize a scanner system based on 125 kHz.
Banfield introduced an incompatible 134.2 kHz microchip, used mainly in foreign countries, which cannot be read by scanners used by most American veterinarians and shelters.
The court also ordered Banfield "to notify all purchasers of its RecoveryChip, or any other 134.2kHz electronic identification tags it has sold, as well as all veterinarians to whom it has recommended these products" of the chip's limitations. Finding that consumers were "likely to be deceived" by Banfield's past advertising and promotion efforts, the court recognized that the circumstances presented were "extraordinary and the potential for serious, irreparable harm warrants the issuance of a mandatory preliminary injunction to inform potentially affected pet owners."
The injunction requires Banfield's notification to be approved by the court, and to state that only certain, specifically listed shelters are equipped with scanners that can read Banfield's chip. The notification also must disclose that the mere fact that shelters have such scanners "does not guarantee that the shelters will actually use those scanners on lost pets."
Finally, the notification must further disclose "that the majority of shelters presently use a scanner that will not detect or read (Banfield's) implanted chip."
"Veterinary medical communities throughout the U.S. believe that Banfield's reckless introduction of a foreign microchip put U.S. pet microchipping and recovery systems in jeopardy," said Hannis L. Stoddard III, D.V.M. and president of AVID, one of the parties that brought the lawsuit. "Judge Pate's order may very well save pets' lives."
AVID manufactures FriendChips, a microchip pet ID tag that has been used successfully throughout the country to reunite pets with their families for years.
"Today's decision forces Banfield to take responsibility for its actions and come clean with pet owners and veterinarians," states Daniel Pascucci of Fish & Richardson, counsel for AVID and veterinarian Robert Stonebreaker, D.V.M., who filed the consumer protection lawsuit against Banfield.
"It is an important step in stopping and remedying an advertising campaign that the court recognized was likely to deceive consumers and create a risk of unnecessarily euthanized pets."
A copy of the news release detailing the original lawsuit filed in May 2004 is available at:
http://www.fr.com/news/articledetail.cfm?articleid=316
Fish &Richardson Announces Court Halts Nationwide Sale of Banfield Pet ID Chips
SAN DIEGO --(Business Wire)-- Nov. 4, 2004 -- Judge Cites Potential for "Serious, Irreparable Harm," Also Orders Banfield to Notify Customers and Vets of Product Limitations Citing "the potential for pets to be euthanized" as a result of deceptive advertising by Medical Management International, Inc. dba Banfield, the Pet Hospital, the San Diego Superior Court yesterday issued a preliminary injunction blocking Banfield from selling or advertising its pet ID microchips, sold under the name RecoveryChip. Banfield Pet Hospitals are located in PETsMART stores throughout the United States.
If Banfield wants to resume selling or promoting its RecoveryChip, the court must first approve that Banfield's proposed advertisements and other promotional materials disclose that the chip "cannot be read by the vast majority of (microchip) scanners in U.S. shelters."
Judge William C. Pate noted that Banfield's actions had created a "risk of great, irreparable harm... specifically the increased potential for pets to be euthanized while their owners believe them to be safe."
The order is a result of a consumer protection lawsuit filed in May 2004, after Banfield's distribution of its chips triggered a strong response by the pet shelter community calling on Banfield to halt its practice. Pet microchipping systems use a scanner (or reader) to read a small microchip transponder that is injected under the skin of a pet.
The vast majority of U.S. animal shelters and vet clinics utilize a scanner system based on 125 kHz.
Banfield introduced an incompatible 134.2 kHz microchip, used mainly in foreign countries, which cannot be read by scanners used by most American veterinarians and shelters.
The court also ordered Banfield "to notify all purchasers of its RecoveryChip, or any other 134.2kHz electronic identification tags it has sold, as well as all veterinarians to whom it has recommended these products" of the chip's limitations. Finding that consumers were "likely to be deceived" by Banfield's past advertising and promotion efforts, the court recognized that the circumstances presented were "extraordinary and the potential for serious, irreparable harm warrants the issuance of a mandatory preliminary injunction to inform potentially affected pet owners."
The injunction requires Banfield's notification to be approved by the court, and to state that only certain, specifically listed shelters are equipped with scanners that can read Banfield's chip. The notification also must disclose that the mere fact that shelters have such scanners "does not guarantee that the shelters will actually use those scanners on lost pets."
Finally, the notification must further disclose "that the majority of shelters presently use a scanner that will not detect or read (Banfield's) implanted chip."
"Veterinary medical communities throughout the U.S. believe that Banfield's reckless introduction of a foreign microchip put U.S. pet microchipping and recovery systems in jeopardy," said Hannis L. Stoddard III, D.V.M. and president of AVID, one of the parties that brought the lawsuit. "Judge Pate's order may very well save pets' lives."
AVID manufactures FriendChips, a microchip pet ID tag that has been used successfully throughout the country to reunite pets with their families for years.
"Today's decision forces Banfield to take responsibility for its actions and come clean with pet owners and veterinarians," states Daniel Pascucci of Fish & Richardson, counsel for AVID and veterinarian Robert Stonebreaker, D.V.M., who filed the consumer protection lawsuit against Banfield.
"It is an important step in stopping and remedying an advertising campaign that the court recognized was likely to deceive consumers and create a risk of unnecessarily euthanized pets."
A copy of the news release detailing the original lawsuit filed in May 2004 is available at:
http://www.fr.com/news/articledetail.cfm?articleid=316
For more information about AVID, visit
http://www.avidid.com
For more information about Fish &Richardson, visit
http://www.fr.com
Leslie Ray
For Pets Sake
Northwest Arkansas
The above is from email and presented for your information only. I was not able to find the relevant article at the F&R website. Perhaps you will have better luck.
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