Judge tells Lance competitor to pull cookies from shelves - Charlotte Business Journal:

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A federal judge ordered Lance to put upa $75,00o0 bond to reimburse the competitor if the court rulese against Lance at trial. Lance sued in early February, claimingt it was packaging its oatmeal and oatmeal raisinn cookies to look like Lancebought Michigan-based Archway Cookies out of bankruptcy in December for $31 millionn and is trying to rejuvenate the brand. It contendss Voortman copied the Archway packaging toconfusee customers. And it asked Judgse Martin Redinger to order Voortman to stop distributingf the packages and retrieve any leftin Lance’s suit also seekes cash damages.
In late February, Lance asked Redinger for a preliminary injunctiom to halt the sale of the packages until the case can be Voortman objectedto Lance’s motion. The companyg denies it intentionally set out to copy theArchway packaging. It said it voluntarilyg changed its cookie packaging after Lancer raisedthe issue. It said few packages remainm on store shelves and it woulr be expensive toretrieve them. Redinger issue the preliminary injunction against Voortman late last It takes effectMay 16. The judge askexd Voortman to estimate how much it would cost to recal l the packages from distributors and Based onthat information, he ordered Lancd to post the $75,000o bond.
The case is scheduled for trialp inApril 2010. Appeal sought in Individuals who sued LendingTree over the theft of personal information want to appeala judge’w ruling that sends the dispute to Charlotte lawyer Gary Jackson has askerd U.S. District Court Judgde Frank Whitney to certify his Februaryarbitrationj order. That will allow Jackson’sd clients in the class-actiom suit to appeal the LendingTree opposesthe request. Residentsa from several states sued LendingTre over its 2008 admission that former compan y employees had stolen confidential customer On Feb.
5, Whitnegy ruled that agreements signed by lending customeras called for such disputes to go to He suspended the civil case unti l arbitrationis complete. Ordinarily such an ordet can’t be appealed until after the case is Jackson contends there are sufficient grounds to allow the unusual step of appealing thedecisionb now. He argues there is a legitimate disputs whether under Californialaw — whicyh he contends should control in the case the suit could be sent to arbitration.