Business sued for passing off PH goods as ‘Made in Alaska’
B. Merry Studio, Inc. is accused of violating Alaska’s Unfair Trade Practices Act.
ANCHORAGE – Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor on Thursday filed a consumer protection lawsuit against a business accused of labeling products imported from the Philippines as being made in Alaska in an illegal effort to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
B. Merry Studio, Inc. is accused of violating Alaska’s Unfair Trade Practices Act by replacing the federally required “Made in the Philippines” labels on certain products and claiming the products are made in the state. In addition, the company is alleged to be illegally selling products advertised as being made from Steller’s sea cow when the products are actually made from other mammals.
“Consumers rely on accurate labeling to have confidence in the products they buy, and actions by businesses to deceive consumers erodes that trust,” Attorney General Taylor said. “My office has an obligation to ensure products are identified accurately and promoted legally.”
Merry sells knives, carvings, ornaments and other products to retailers and consumers. The State’s lawsuit alleges the company ships the raw materials for its products, such as antlers and bone, to the Philippines for manufacturing. Finished and nearly finished products are shipped back to the company with “Made in the Philippines” stickers affixed to them.
Merry removes the “Made in Philippines” stickers and replaces them with stickers that state “B. Merry, Alaskan Made.” The company also sells knives with the words, “B. Merry, Alaskan Made” etched into the blades, even though those knives are not made in Alaska.
The company also placed the “Made in Alaska” emblem on products that were manufactured outside the state, which is an infringement upon the State’s trademark of that emblem, according to the lawsuit.
Further, B. Merry claims some of its knives are made from Steller’s sea cow, a species that has been extinct for more than two centuries. However, genetic testing of these products showed that they were actually made from other species, such as caribou and bowhead whale, an endangered species.
Defendants in the lawsuit are B. Merry Studio, Inc, its owners Robert Merry, Josephine Merry, Mary Uy, former owner Mark Uy, and employee Judylyn Uy.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties and an injunction to prevent B. Merry from falsely advertising products primarily manufactured in the Philippines as being made in Alaska.
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