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Legal Action
Against Petrolon
Krell,
Trigian & Power
Attorneys At Law
1608 Smith Street
34th Floor
Houston,
Texas
77001
Certified Mail #
p818738318
Mr. Don Shriver
President
Petrolon, Inc.
1187 Brittmoore
Houston, Texas 77279-9019
Certified Mail 3
p818738317
Mr. Don Shriver
President
Scientia Corporation
1187 Brittmoore
Houston, Texas
7729-9019
Re: Defamation and use of false advertising
in the marketing of Slick 50
Gentlemen:
The law
firm of Kreel, Torigian
& Power has been retained by
John Bishop,
Ambassador Oil & Chemical and Golden Rule Corporation to represent them
concerning the false advertising, defamation and fraud being conducted by your
companies, distributors, dealers, and presumably unknowingly, by retail outlets
established by your distributors through improper use of research materials,
test results and consumer testimonials in your promotional, advertising
materials, literature and films.
This false
advertising and defamation is occurring with the present products you are
marketing under the trade names Slick-50, Tef-Cote
2, S-50 and possibly others.
As you are aware, John Bishop invented several
unique proprietary formulas (The Bishop Formulas) and began marketing his
products in 1976 under the trade name, Lubri-Lon.
In 1978, he created Petrolon and sold some of his
products under the trade names Slick-50, Tef-Cote2 and S-50 (Slick 50 trade
Names) through Petrolon.
Petrolon
International, Chemical Associates and Soccopar (Petrolon
marketing Companies).
The
aforementioned companies have never owned any interest in or had any proprietary
rights to Mr. Bishop’s Formula or research data, test results or testimonials on
the products containing his unique proprietary formulas.
Mr. Bishop has continuously marketed his
products since 1976 under the trade names LubriLon,
Matrix, duration, z Bond, Camtron II, Bishop’s
Original and others.
It is a documented fact that Mr. Bishop ended
his involvement and discontinued supplying any of his products to the
Petrolon Companies in 1983 and since such
time, The Petrolon
Companies have exhausted their supply of Slick 50 products containing Bishop
formulas.
The
Petrolon Companies, distributors, and dealers now
sell a completely different product under the Slick-50 Trade Names, but continue
to use the research data, test and consumer testimonials acquired on the Bishop
Formulas and products in Petrolon promotional and
advertising materials. This practice constitutes false advertising, is
fraudulent and must cease immediately.
The
promotional and advertising practices of the Petrolon
Companies and your distributors are an
intentional attempt to deceive purchasers into believing they are buying the
same products (The Bishop Formula) which produced the beneficial results claimed
by the official test and testimonials. All of
the test results, testimonial and promotional information in question for
Slick 50, Tef-Cote 2 and S-50 pre-date Mr. Bishop’s
1983 termination of his association with Petrolon.
They include, but are
not limited to, the following sources:
1.
Consumer’s Digest, Inc.;
2.
Automotive Services Council for Pennsylvania, Inc.;
3.
The Franklin Laboratory Research Institute, Inc.;
4.
The University of Utah Engineering experiment Station;
5.
Le Tourneau College of Texas;
6.
The Federal Aviation Administration;
7. Wayne Moore Racing
Information;
8.
Spectro – Metric, Inc.;
9. Energy Independent
Associates;
10. Andrews University
11.
University of Nantes
12. U.
S. Department of Energy
The Bishop's Formula
and products are also being defamed by the Petrolon
Companies and their distributors who are using
LubriLon ,
Copyrighted Material on Slick-50 Brochures and printed materials such as but not
limited to:
“Your engine
needs more than oil.”
“Today’s engine
needs more than oil.”
“Today’s engines
are marvels of power and performance, but increasingly harder to lubricate.”
“Friction and
heat have been long recognized as the major cause of engine trouble and
decreased efficiency.”
“An exclusive
metal treating formula designed to blend harmoniously with both petroleum and
synthetic oils that are compatible with petroleum to provide supreme lubrication
in all types of gasoline and diesel engines, old or new.”
“Helps reduce
friction, heat and oil shearing by treating the metal not the oil.”
“Not an oil or
oil additive…. But a unique metal treatment.”
The continued use by
the Petrolon Companies and their Distributors of the
testimonials, sources and copyrighted material identified herein, not only
defrauds the public but also defrauds, libels, and slanders The Bishop Formulas
and products. They are continually being defamed
as consumers of the New Slick-50 products
report inferior results, no results and all or engine damage.
The Bishop
Formula and products are also being defamed by the Petrolon
companies and their distributors who have made and continue to make false
representations such as:
“Slick-50 is the
Original Formula”;
“The same company
makes both Slick-50 and LubriLon”;
“Lubrilon
does not work”;
“Z-Bond does not
work”;
“Slick-50 has
been in business longer than LubriLon”;
“Slick-50 (as
previously made) is approved or accepted by the FAA”;
Your use of the Bishop Formula results, sources, and testimonials to gain
credibility and to promote your new formula sold as Slick-50 products also
violates the Texas Deceptive trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act,
(the “Act”), Texas Bus. & Comm. Code Ann., Section 17.45
et.seq. (Vernon
1978).
Specifically, you have
violated the Act by committing false, misleading or deceptive Acts and
enumerated in Section 17.45, including, but not limited to the following:
1. Causing confusion
or misunderstanding as to the source, sponsorship, approval. Or certification of
goods or services;
2. Causing confusion
or misunderstanding as to the affiliation, connection, or association with, or
certification by another;
3. Representing that
goods or services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients,
uses, benefits, or qualities which they do not have or that a person has a
sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation or connection which he does not;
4. Representing that
goods or services are of a particular standard, quality or grade or that goods
are of a particular style or model, if they are of another;
5. Disparaging the
goods, services or business of another by false or misleading representation of
facts;
6. Advertising goods
or services with the intent not to sell them as advertised.
Section 17.47 also authorizes the state consumer protection division to obtain a
temporary restraining order and temporary and permanent injunctions
to prevent your continued deceptive acts.
In addition, your
promotion and advertising practices violate Section 17.12 of the Texas Business
& Commerce Code by your dissemination of statements you are aware materially
misrepresent the character of your products for the purpose of selling or
inducing persons to purchase said products. Finally, your practices are also
likely in violation of Section 43 (a) of the Lanham Act, 15 USC, Section 1125
(a) the unlawful practice and consumer protection laws of other states as well
as the regulations established by the Federal Trade Commission and the United
States Postal Service.
Demand is hereby made that
Petrolon, Inc., Scientia
Corporation and all related companies and their respective officers, directors,
agents, distributors, and representatives, cease and desist from using,
preparing or referring to any test results, performance data, testimonials,
media or print reviews, copyrighted materials, awards, sponsorships or
endorsements of any source, including, but not limited to the Bishop Formula,
test results and testimonials identified herein, which is based on evaluations,
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