Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enterprises Corp. , 529 F. App'x 560 ( 2013 )


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  •                NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
    File Name: 13a0612n.06
    No. 11-2090
    FILED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                         Jun 28, 2013
    FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT                       DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk
    INNOVATION VENTURES, LLC, doing                 )
    business as Living Essentials,                  )
    )
    Plaintiff-Appellant,                     )
    )
    v.                                              )   ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
    )   STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
    BHELLIOM ENTERPRISES CORP.,                     )   EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
    )
    Defendant-Appellee.                      )
    Before: CLAY and COOK, Circuit Judges; OLIVER, District Judge*
    COOK, Circuit Judge. In this dispute between competing energy-drink producers, Innovation
    Ventures, LLC d/b/a Living Essentials (“LE”), the makers of “5-hour ENERGY,” claims that
    Bhelliom Enterprises Corp. (“Bhelliom”) infringed its trademark rights by marketing deceptively
    similar “8-HR ENERGY” products and falsely advertising their capabilities. The district court
    disagreed on both counts, and LE timely appeals the court’s grant of summary judgment
    to Bhelliom. For the following reasons, our intervening decision in a similar case requires
    REVERSAL on the trademark-infringement claim. See Innovation Ventures, LLC v. N.V.E., Inc.
    (hereinafter “NVE”), 
    694 F.3d 723
    (6th Cir. 2012). We also AFFIRM IN PART and REVERSE IN
    PART the district court’s judgment on the false-advertising claim.
    *
    The Honorable Solomon Oliver, Jr., Chief United States District Judge for the Northern
    District of Ohio, sitting by designation.
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    Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enters. Corp.
    I.
    In September 2004, LE began to test-market “5-hour ENERGY,” a two-ounce “energy shot.”
    The Patent and Trademark Office denied LE’s application for trademark registration, citing the
    descriptive nature of the product’s name. The next summer, after market testing proved favorable,
    LE began marketing “5-hour ENERGY” in a variety of stores nationwide. See 
    NVE, 694 F.3d at 727
    . The product succeeded and soon attracted a number of competitors.
    In March of 2006, NVE, a New Jersey-based competitor, introduced a similar energy shot
    named “6 Hour POWER.” LE sued NVE claiming, among other things, trademark infringement
    (hereinafter the “NVE litigation”). The packaging of the competing products from the NVE
    litigation appear below.
    In December 2006, another competitor, Bhelliom, entered the market with an energy-pill
    product named “Mr. Energy® 8-HR Maximum Strength ENERGY”—a combination of its registered
    house mark, “Mr. Energy®,” and the pills’ claimed ability to provide energy for eight hours, the
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    Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enters. Corp.
    length of a normal workday. Bhelliom touted its product in press releases and on its website for
    using a time-released formula. (R. 53, Exs. 6, 8.) During the summer of 2009, Bhelliom expanded
    the “8-HR ENERGY” product line to include energy shots. LE sued Bhelliom for trademark
    infringement and false advertising, targeting Bhelliom’s representations about the design and
    effectiveness of its “8-HR ENERGY” products. Photos of the packaging at bar in this appeal
    appear here.
    The same district judge presided over LE’s suits against both NVE (“6 Hour POWER”) and
    Bhelliom (“8-HR ENERGY”). The court granted summary judgment to both defendants on the
    trademark infringement claims, ruling first in the NVE litigation in September 2010. In doing so,
    the district court assessed LE’s claims using our traditional trademark-infringement factors:
    (1) the strength of the plaintiff’s mark, (2) the relatedness of the goods or services
    offered by the plaintiff and the defendant, (3) the similarity of the marks, (4) any
    evidence of actual confusion, (5) the marketing channels used by the parties, (6) the
    probable degree of purchaser care and sophistication, (7) the defendant’s intent in
    selecting its mark, and (8) the likelihood of either party expanding its product line
    using the marks.
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    Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enters. Corp.
    See, e.g., 
    NVE, 694 F.3d at 731
    ; Frisch’s Rests., Inc. v. Elby’s Big Boy of Steubenville, Inc., 
    670 F.2d 642
    , 648 (6th Cir. 1982). In both cases, the district court found that three factors supported
    infringement (factors 2, 5, and 6) and four did not (factors 1, 3, 4, and 7), with the eighth factor
    inapplicable. The court also granted Bhelliom summary judgment on the false-advertising claims,
    concluding that LE failed to present evidence of damages.1 LE appealed the adverse judgments in
    both cases.
    The NVE summary judgment appeal reached a panel of this court after the district court
    granted summary judgment in Bhelliom. In its precedential decision, that panel first addressed
    NVE’s argument that LE’s “5-hour ENERGY” mark was too descriptive to receive protection under
    the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), concluding that “5-hour ENERGY” is “suggestive” and thus
    a protected mark. 
    NVE, 694 F.3d at 730
    . On the merits of the trademark claim, the panel reversed
    the district court’s non-infringement finding and remanded for a trial, explaining that the “evenly
    balanced” factors—three for, and four against—precluded summary judgment. 
    Id. at 732–33.
    The
    panel rejected LE’s argument that NVE intentionally copied its product, but faulted the district court
    for discounting LE’s evidence of consumer confusion. 
    Id. at 732–33
    (explaining that the summary
    judgment standard required the district court to draw all reasonable inferences in favor of LE, the
    non-moving party).
    1
    The district court granted summary judgment to LE on Bhelliom’s trademark counterclaims
    related to its “Mr. Energy®” mark. Bhelliom does not appeal that decision.
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    Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enters. Corp.
    Noting the similarity of the two cases’ trademark claims, LE now argues here that NVE
    requires us not only to reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment, but also to
    grant summary judgment in its favor. LE also challenges the district court’s denial of its false-
    advertising claims, arguing for a presumption of damages and injunctive relief.
    II.
    LE’s trademark and false-advertising claims arise under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.
    § 1125(a).        Accordingly, the district court exercised federal-question jurisdiction over
    Living Essentials’s trademark claims, 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Our appellate jurisdiction stems from
    28 U.S.C. § 1291. We give fresh review to a grant of summary judgment, asking whether the
    movant showed that “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled
    to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith
    Radio Corp., 
    475 U.S. 574
    , 587–88 (1986).
    As relevant here, section 43(a) of the Lanham Act protects trademarks by authorizing civil
    actions against
    Any person who, on or in connection with any goods or services, or any container for
    goods, uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any
    combination thereof . . . which—
    (A) is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the
    . . . origin, sponsorship, or approval of his or her goods, services, or
    commercial activities by another person, or
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    Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enters. Corp.
    (B) in commercial advertising or promotion, misrepresents the nature,
    characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin of his or her or another
    person’s goods . . . .
    15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1). In order to prevail on either of these claims (trademark infringement, false
    advertising), the plaintiff must show both a protectable trademark and the relevant Lanham Act
    violation. 
    NVE, 694 F.3d at 728
    .
    III.
    A. Effect of NVE on LE’s Trademark Infringement Claim
    We begin by examining our treatment of LE’s similar trademark claim in the NVE appeal.
    Faced with essentially the same split of trademark factors in NVE—three for, four against2—we
    described the factors as “evenly balanced” and thus “counsel[ing] in favor of not granting summary
    judgment.” 
    Id. at 733;
    see also 
    id. (“This factually
    intensive issue is a close call and could, on a fair
    comparison of the evidence to date, be decided either way.”). Considering the similarity of the
    products, the record evidence, and the district court’s rationale, one would expect that our judgment
    in NVE should control here, requiring reversal of the district court’s non-infringement judgment.
    2
    The district court in this case found that factors 4 (actual confusion) and 7 (intentional
    copying) favored neither party, consistent with our observation that such factors generally do not
    favor or weigh against a finding of infringement. See Daddy’s Junky Music Stores, Inc. v. Big
    Daddy’s Family Music Center, 
    109 F.3d 275
    , 286 (6th Cir. 1997) (explaining that a lack of intent
    does not favor an alleged infringer by diminishing likelihood of confusion).
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    Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enters. Corp.
    Bhelliom’s briefing offers little resistance to NVE, suggesting only that it failed to address
    whether the Lanham Act protected LE’s “5-hour ENERGY” product. Yet, as noted above, NVE
    found the mark “suggestive” and thus entitled to trademark protection. 
    NVE, 694 F.3d at 730
    . In
    our view, little distinguishes this case from NVE, and we agree with LE that NVE requires reversal
    of the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Bhelliom on this infringement claim.
    B. LE’s Arguments for Summary Judgment on Trademark Infringement
    That does not settle the matter, however, because LE now asks for summary judgment in its
    favor. Specifically, it argues that additional factors support its view that Bhelliom’s “8-HR
    ENERGY” pills and energy shots infringed its “5-hour ENERGY” mark. We cannot agree.
    It is important to note that LE failed to move for summary judgment before the district court.
    Although we may, in our discretion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2106, nonetheless direct an alternative
    order of judgment, such an order is not appropriate in this case. Trs. of Mich. Laborers’ Health Care
    Fund v. Gibbons, 
    209 F.3d 587
    , 596 n.5 (6th Cir. 2000). In reaching this conclusion we apply “the
    general rule . . . that a federal appellate court does not consider an issue not passed upon below,”
    Singleton v. Wulff, 
    428 U.S. 106
    , 120 (1976), and are mindful “[t]his court is not compelled to hear,
    nor should it hear, an issue not presented to the district court unless reaching that issue serves an
    over-arching purpose beyond that of arriving at the correct result in an individual case,” Foster v.
    Barilow, 
    6 F.3d 405
    , 408 (6th Cir. 1993). See also 10A Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller,
    Federal Practice and Procedure § 2720 (3d ed. 2004) (“[A]n appellate court should not reverse a
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    Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enters. Corp.
    summary judgment and order judgment for the nonmoving party on the basis of an issue that the
    movant had no opportunity to meet in the district court.”). Further, an alternative order of judgment
    is generally not appropriate when the parties have not had a chance to address any material factual
    issues before the district court. See 
    Gibbons, 209 F.3d at 595
    ; Fountain v. Filson, 
    335 U.S. 681
    , 683
    (1949) (reversing an order of judgment “made on appeal on a new issue as to which the opposite
    party had no opportunity to present a defense before the trial court”). With these considerations in
    mind, we decline LE’s invitation to consider granting summary judgment in its favor.
    LE’s argument for summary judgment, like the district court’s opinion below, fails to
    distinguish Bhelliom’s energy shots from its pills. One would expect the likelihood-of-confusion
    analysis to differ somewhat when comparing a liquid energy shot to a bottle of energy pills. LE’s
    argument fails to account for these product differences.
    Finally, were we to take up this forfeited argument, the additional factors relied on by LE do
    not compel a finding of trademark infringement. LE now urges this court to consider the supporting
    factors found by the district court, plus factors 1 (mark strength) and 3 (mark similarity) as
    supporting a finding of infringement. It concedes that factors 4 (actual confusion) and 7 (intentional
    copying) present a jury question.
    To prevail on its claim, LE must show that Bhelliom’s “8-HR ENERGY” mark creates a
    likelihood of confusion regarding the origin of the parties’ competing products. 15 U.S.C.
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    Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enters. Corp.
    § 1125(a)(1)(A); 
    NVE, 694 F.3d at 731
    . As noted above, we consider the following factors as
    bearing on whether a plaintiff has shown a likelihood of confusion:
    (1) the strength of the plaintiff’s mark, (2) the relatedness of the goods or services
    offered by the plaintiff and the defendant, (3) the similarity of the marks, (4) any
    evidence of actual confusion, (5) the marketing channels used by the parties, (6) the
    probable degree of purchaser care and sophistication, (7) the defendant’s intent in
    selecting its mark, and (8) the likelihood of either party expanding its product line
    using the marks.
    
    NVE, 694 F.3d at 731
    . “Whether a likelihood of confusion exists ‘is a mixed question of fact and
    law,’ but the ultimate determination of ‘whether a given set of foundational facts establishes a
    likelihood of confusion is a legal conclusion.’” 
    Id. (quoting Therma–Scan,
    Inc. v. Thermoscan, Inc.,
    
    295 F.3d 623
    , 630–31 (6th Cir. 2002)). Though we typically resolve trademark claims as a matter
    of law, we recognize that certain cases present factual disputes or such evenly balanced factors that
    the matter is properly resolved by the finder of fact. See, e.g., 
    NVE, 694 F.3d at 733
    (reversing
    summary judgment in favor of defendant, finding factors in relative equipoise); Daddy’s Junky
    Music Stores, Inc. v. Big Daddy’s Family Music Ctr., 
    109 F.3d 275
    , 284 (6th Cir. 1997) (same,
    finding a genuine issue of fact regarding the product similarity).
    This case, like NVE, “is a close call and could, on a fair comparison of the evidence to date,
    be decided either 
    way.” 694 F.3d at 733
    . LE acknowledges that certain factors present genuine
    issues of material fact. Further, Bhelliom’s pill and energy-shot versions of “8-HR ENERGY”
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    warrant separate consideration. As in NVE, we reverse the district court’s grant of summary
    judgment and leave the remaining factual disputes for the factfinder.
    IV.
    LE’s false-advertising claim targets two representations Bhelliom made in press releases and
    on its website about its “Mr. Energy® 8-HR Maximum Strength ENERGY” products: (1) that the
    products use a time-released formula, consistent with a Harvard University study that revealed higher
    sustained energy levels from the consumption of low doses of energy-boosting substances throughout
    the day; and (2) that the products provide eight hours of energy. To present a viable false-advertising
    claim under the Lanham Act, LE needs to show:
    1) the defendant has made false or misleading statements of fact concerning his own
    product or another’s; 2) the statement actually or tends to deceive a substantial
    portion of the intended audience; 3) the statement is material in that it will likely
    influence the deceived consumer’s purchasing decisions; 4) the advertisements
    were introduced into interstate commerce; and 5) there is some causal link
    between the challenged statements and harm to the plaintiff.
    Am. Council of Certified Podiatric Physicians & Surgeons v. Am. Bd. of Podiatric Surgery, Inc.,
    
    185 F.3d 606
    , 613 (6th Cir.1999).
    The district court granted summary judgment to Bhelliom because LE failed to present
    evidence of the last element: that the alleged falsities harmed LE. Though LE does not dispute this
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    fact,3 it asserts that the absence of damages does not preclude their claim for two reasons: (1)
    Bhelliom’s willful misrepresentations about its competitor products warrant a presumption of
    damages, and (2) injunctive relief does not require damages. Only the second argument has merit,
    but it warrants remand, not summary judgment.
    A. Presumption of Damages for Willful Misrepresentations About Competitor Products
    LE correctly notes that, for purposes of comparative advertising, we have recognized a
    limited exception to the general rule that a false-advertising plaintiff must prove damages. In
    Balance Dynamics Corp. v. Schmitt Industries, Inc., we adopted the reasoning of an Eighth Circuit
    case that presumed damages in instances of willful deception. 
    204 F.3d 683
    , 694–95 (6th Cir. 2000)
    (quoting Porous Media Corp. v. Pall Corp., 
    110 F.3d 1329
    , 1336 (8th Cir.1997)). We stressed,
    however, that the presumption “extend[s] only to cases of comparative advertising where the
    plaintiff’s product was specifically targeted,” explaining that “[o]therwise . . . ‘a plaintiff might enjoy
    a windfall from a speculative award of damages by simply being a competitor in the same market.’”
    
    Id. at 694
    (quoting Porous 
    Media, 110 F.3d at 1334
    –35). Recognizing this boundary, we found the
    presumption overcome by evidence of no marketplace injury. 
    Id. at 695.
    3
    For the first time in its reply brief, LE appears to rely on expert testimony speculating that
    Bhelliom’s sales “no doubt were drawn from consumers who might have purchased 5-Hour Energy.”
    (Appellant Reply Br. at 20.) The opening brief acknowledged that the district court rejected this
    argument, but makes no attempt to use this evidence to support false-advertising damages. (See
    Appellant Br. at 16, 20.) Because LE omitted this known argument from its opening brief, we deem
    it forfeited. See, e.g., United States v. Madden, 
    403 F.3d 347
    , 351 n.1 (6th Cir. 2005).
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    LE devotes considerable argument to the falsity of Bhelliom’s advertisements—an issue not
    reached by the district court—but gives scant attention to the willfulness and targeted nature of these
    alleged misrepresentations. For willfulness, LE offers only the testimony of an employee at Garden
    State Nutritionals, the company that manufactured Bhelliom’s “8-HR ENERGY” products,
    claiming that Bhelliom knew its products lacked a time-released formula. (Appellant Br. at 61
    (citing R. 53, Ex. 4 at 25, 28–29).) This evidence relates to statements appearing in a specific press
    release and on Bhelliom’s “8-HR ENERGY” website, http://www.8-hr.com, in which Bhelliom
    asserts that its products use a time-released formula, similar to that recommended by a Harvard study
    (hereinafter “time-released-formula ads”). (Appellant Br. at 11–12, 58–59; R. 53, Exs. 6 (linking
    product to Harvard study), 7 (crediting “the revelations of [a] government study” for inspiring the
    “design[] [of] a supplement that slowly releases its energy-boosting ingredients in small increments
    throughout the day” ), 8 (proclaiming “time-released formula”).) Nevertheless, LE suggests that
    another advertisement qualifies for the presumption of damages—an ad depicting the comparative
    effectiveness of Bhelliom’s products vis-à-vis other energy shots (R. 53, Ex. 6)—without showing
    that Bhelliom made a willful misrepresentation in that ad. Absent a showing of willfulness for
    that ad, we confine our review for this aspect of LE’s false-advertising claim to the time-released-
    formula ads.
    On that front, LE presents colorable evidence that Bhelliom knowingly misstated its
    products’ time-release capabilities, a point that Bhelliom does not dispute. But the presence of
    willfulness, alone, does not warrant a presumption of damages; the alleged misrepresentation must
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    target the plaintiff’s product. The Eighth Circuit explained this limitation in Porous Media: “In a
    suit for money damages where a defendant misrepresented its own product but did not specifically
    target a competing product, plaintiff may be only one of many competitors, and without proof of
    causation and specific injury each competitor might receive a windfall unrelated to its own 
    damage.” 110 F.3d at 1335
    –36; see also Harper House, Inc. v. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 
    889 F.2d 197
    , 209–10
    (9th Cir. 1989) (rejecting a presumption of damages where the defendants deceptively advertised
    their product, a binder-organizer, but plaintiff “presented no evidence of any injury causally related
    to the defendants’ deception”). The Lanham Act’s general instruction that damages “shall
    constitute compensation and not a penalty,” 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), likewise supports this view.
    Porous 
    Media, 110 F.3d at 1336
    ; see also 5 McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition
    § 27:31 (4th ed.), available at Westlaw MCCARTHY (“Since § 43(a) [of the Lanham Act] was
    passed to protect consumers as well as competitors, the courts are not and should not be reluctant
    to allow a commercial plaintiff to obtain an injunction even where the likelihood of provable impact
    on the plaintiff may be subtle and slight. Congressional policy appears to encourage commercial
    firms to act as the fabled ‘vicarious avenger’ of consumer rights. . . . An injunction, as opposed to
    money damages, is no windfall to the commercial plaintiff. An injunction protects both consumers
    and the commercial plaintiff from continuing acts of false advertising. Money damages, on the other
    hand, primarily aid only the competitor, and he is required to satisfy a much higher standard of proof
    as to injury in order to recover damages.” (footnotes omitted)).
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    Porous Media, which allowed a presumption of damages, involved claims that the defendant
    made misrepresentations about the plaintiff’s product. 
    Id. at 1331
    & n.2. So did Balance
    Dynamics 
    Corps, 204 F.3d at 686
    –87 (detailing the defendant’s consumer-alert letter suggesting
    that the plaintiff’s product was subject to environmental regulations and eventually would be
    banned, with consumers absorbing the costs of regulatory compliance), 694–95 (finding that the
    defendant’s letter “specifically targeted [plaintiff’s product], which was the only product of its kind
    on the market”). LE makes no such claim here. At best, it notes that one of the time-released-
    formula ads acknowledges its “5-hour ENERGY” product as a competitor. (Appellant Br. at 61
    (citing R. 53).) Sure enough, that ad acknowledges “5-hour ENERGY” and another (coincidentally,
    “6 Hour POWER”) as competitors in the energy supplement market, but it does not
    misrepresent their formulas or effectiveness. Rather, the press-release states that the competitors
    proclaim energy boosts that match their products’ respective five- and six-hour names and calls the
    competitors “successful.” Indeed, the press release offers only one direct point of comparison
    between “8-HR ENERGY” and the competition: whereas “the taste of the drink and the
    inconvenience of the packaging make [energy shots] a less than ideal choice for many individuals,”
    Bhelliom’s “easy-to-swallow capsule avoids the harsh taste of energy drinks.” (Id.)4
    4
    Ironically, Bhelliom introduced its own energy shot less than three years after offering its
    product in pill form, despite its initial concerns about the energy drink medium. The packaging for
    “8-HR ENERGY” products claims they are “#1 in Taste.”
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    LE does not object to these generic statements of a better-tasting, more convenient product,
    nor could it. See, e.g., Interactive Prods. Corp. v. a2z Mobile Office Solutions, Inc., 
    326 F.3d 687
    ,
    699–700 (6th Cir. 2003) (explaining that vague, opinion-based claims about a product constitute
    non-actionable “puffery” under the Lanham Act). LE also does not seek damage-control costs
    arising from this ad. See Balance Dynamics 
    Corp., 204 F.3d at 692
    –93. Thus, at bottom, LE
    objects to the fact that Bhelliom oversold its own product, not that Bhelliom misrepresented or
    caused confusion regarding LE’s product. From our review of the presumed-damages cases, LE
    needed to show that Bhelliom’s willful misrepresentations targeted its products; it did not. We
    affirm the district court’s denial of damages for the false-advertising claim.
    B. Injunctive Relief
    To the extent that LE seeks injunctive relief, however, it stands on firmer ground. The
    district court stated its position on this issue in two brief sentences, finding this option likewise
    foreclosed by LE’s failure to show harm. (R. 86, Op. & Order at 13 (explaining that, despite a lower
    standard of proof for injunctive relief, LE still failed to “demonstrate a likelihood that [Bhelliom’s]
    advertising has caused or will cause harm to [LE]”).) Our cases do not require distinct evidence of
    harm as a prerequisite for injunctive relief. See, e.g., LidoChem, Inc. v. Stoller Enters., Inc., 500 F.
    App’x 373, 380 (6th Cir. 2012); Balance Dynamics 
    Corp., 204 F.3d at 693
    –94; Am. 
    Council, 185 F.3d at 618
    . Indeed, in American Council, we held that
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    injunctive relief may be obtained by showing only that the defendant’s
    representations about its product have a tendency to deceive consumers while
    recovery of damages requires proof of actual consumer deception. This lower
    standard [for injunctive relief] has arisen because when an injunction is sought,
    courts may protect the consumer without fear of bestowing an undeserved windfall
    on the plaintiff. Although plaintiff need not present consumer surveys or testimony
    demonstrating actual deception, it must present evidence of some sort demonstrating
    that consumers were 
    misled. 185 F.3d at 618
    (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Precedent therefore requires us to
    reverse the district court’s contrary judgment.
    The questions remain whether, and to what degree, the district court should have granted
    the injunctive relief sought by LE. To repeat, LE challenges two primary representations appearing
    in Bhelliom’s ads: (1) that “8-HR ENERGY” products use a time-released-formula , and (2) that they
    provide energy for eight hours. The latter claim has many manifestations, ranging from the name
    of the product to ads guaranteeing eight hours of energy and a rudimentary bar graph depicting
    energy drinks’ comparative effectiveness.      (See R. 53, Exs. 7, 9.) LE argues that all of these
    representations were literally false. Bhelliom only defends the eight-hour-energy representations,
    citing product testimonials and scientific evidence concerning the effectiveness of caffeine, one of
    the primary ingredients in its products. LE improperly suggests that we should construe facts in its
    favor in determining falsity, despite the fact that it now asks for summary judgment. Even so, it does
    not address the key factor identified in American Council: the misrepresentation’s tendency to
    deceive consumers. Am. 
    Council, 185 F.3d at 618
    .
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    We may overlook that factor with regard to the time-released-formula ads because
    American Council recognized a legal presumption of consumer deception for a competitor’s literally
    false 
    advertisements. 185 F.3d at 614
    ; see also LidoChem, Inc., 500 F. App’x at 380. During oral
    argument, Bhelliom conceded these false statements, but noted that the statements only concerned
    their “8-HR ENERGY” pills. They also assure us they have discontinued these ads. That may be
    so, but this development does not appear in the record. To the extent these false advertisements
    remain at issue, we remand for the district court to fashion appropriate injunctive relief.
    But we cannot presume deception with regard to the myriad eight-hour-energy claims, the
    falsity of which Bhelliom genuinely disputes. In the absence of a literally false statement, American
    Council instructs that a plaintiff may obtain injunctive relief if the misleading representation
    “tend[s] to deceive a substantial portion of the intended 
    audience.” 185 F.3d at 618
    . “Although
    plaintiff need not present consumer surveys or testimony demonstrating actual deception, it must
    present evidence of some sort demonstrating that consumers were misled.” 
    Id. Because the
    district court did not consider these factors in resolving LE’s false-advertising
    claims, we think it prudent to allow the district court, in the first instance, to resolve whether any of
    Bhelliom’s advertisements proclaiming eight hours of energy contained literal falsities or
    misleading representations, and which (if any) tend to deceive a substantial portion of the intended
    audience.
    - 17 -
    No. 11-2090
    Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Bhelliom Enters. Corp.
    V.
    For the above reasons, we REVERSE the district court’s judgment on the trademark-
    infringement claim. We also AFFIRM IN PART and REVERSE IN PART the district court’s
    judgment on the false-advertising claim, AFFIRMING the denial of damages and REVERSING the
    denial of injunctive relief with instructions. We REMAND for further proceedings consistent with
    this opinion.
    - 18 -