Opinion ID: 199109
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Name Ace con Blanqueador

Text: 49 Clorox also alleged that the name, Ace con Blanqueador, as applied to liquid Ace, is literally false. According to Clorox, the word blanqueador implies that liquid Ace has whitening capabilities like bleach. Clorox alleged that this is literally false because in its liquid form Ace does not contain bleach or whitening agents. Instead, it contains only a color enhancer. Clorox emphasizes that liquid Ace uses the same formula as Tide with Bleach Alternative whose name, unlike blanqueador, clearly signifies the absence of bleach. Proctor & Gamble responds that blanqueador means whitener, and that the name cannot be literally false because tests show that the agents added to liquid Ace produce greater whiteness than detergents without those agents. 50 Clorox's allegations about the use of the name Ace con Blanqueador for the liquid detergent state a claim for literal falsity. Although blanqueador, meaning whitener, is broad enough to encompass both bleach and non-bleach whitening agents, the question remains whether liquid Ace is properly described as containing whitening agents of any sort. Clorox has alleged that it is not, insisting that Ace's ingredients are properly termed color enhancers. Although the distinction between a whitening agent and a color enhancer eludes us, we must credit that allegation in this appeal from a 12(b)(6) dismissal. If Clorox succeeds in proving that liquid Ace contains only an enhancer, rather than a whitener, and if it further establishes the other elements of a false advertising claim, see supra note 6, it will be entitled to relief under the Lanham Act because Proctor & Gamble's designation of Ace liquid detergent as Ace con Blanqueador would be literally false.