Yowhick has been ordered to cease false promotions and sales of projectors for misleading brightness claims measuring less than 1% of claimed 9,000 lumens.
Epson announced a default judgment was entered for its lawsuit against Yowhick, an Amazon selling partner. Finding that Yowhick was unfairly competing by using false, deceptive, or misleading statements of fact that misrepresent the nature, quality, and characteristics of its current line of projector products, Yowhick was enjoined from any false or misleading advertising of its projector products, and from selling projectors online, including, but not limited to, Amazon.com as well as retail stores, regardless of the seller of the same. White Brightness measured in Lumens is a significant feature used by consumers to make projector buying decisions.
With actual White Brightness, tested according to the ISO 21118 standard, only measured less than 1% of Yowhick’s claim of 9,000 Lumens, these highly inaccurate statements deceive consumers, misrepresent the quality of projection technology, and ultimately impact the integrity of the industry at large.
“Consumers count on companies to provide reliable and accurate product information and performance specs,” said Mike Isgrig, vice president, consumer sales and marketing, Epson America. “As an ongoing issue, brands that are falsifying White Brightness claims are not only hurting the end-user experiences of consumers, but also the overall perception of projection viewing, damaging the industry as whole. The highly inaccurate White Brightness claims by Yowhick is an example of gross negligence on the part of a brand and its commitment to truth in advertising.”
The initial complaint was made as part of Epson’s concentrated efforts to protect the projector market and ensure the implementation of internationally recognised and accepted brightness standards are used by brands to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions.
The default judgement of the lawsuit and removal of these products benefits consumers, the retail channel and the larger projector industry.
