In Texas, a Bexar County District Court has issued a temporary restraining order against Tru Defense Inc., to force the company to stop publishing false and misleading statements about its Tru-D Smart UV disinfection device, according to a statement from Xenex Disinfection Services.
Additionally, the court order requires Tru-D to stop making incorrect statements about Xenex's Germ-Zapping Robot UV disinfection device.
According to Xenex, Tru-D "materially overstates the effectiveness of its mercury device, while grossly understating the effectiveness of Xenex's Pulsed Xenon Full Spectrum UV device."
In a statement, Morris Miller, CEO of Xenex, said, "We intend to monitor and react to any false statements made by any mercury company about Xenex and our unique pulsed xenon technology and this [temporary restraining order] will force them to be truthful moving forward."
In response to the lawsuit, Tru-D sent a statement to Becker's. "The recent claims from competitors are not only damaging but also unfounded. Tru-D is confident in the science behind our device, as validated by numerous clinical trials, and we will vigorously defend statements regarding results that demonstrate Tru-D's clinical differentiation. We look forward to proving the validity of our position in court soon," Chuck Dunn, president and CEO of Tru-D SmartUVC, said in the statement.
The statement continues, "For now, our focus remains on the results of the latest research involving Tru-D – the CDC-funded study, 'Benefits of Enhanced Terminal Room Disinfection,' which will be released this week. This study will be the most comprehensive research completed to date that assesses Tru-D's specific method of enhanced disinfection and its ability to reduce infections. The results of this randomized clinical trial will certainly add to our arsenal of clinical evidence proving Tru-D's efficacy."
This is not Xenex's first time in court regarding advertising claims in the UV disinfection space. Xenex and Clorox went head-to-head in court about advertising claims earlier this year.