a legal battle over 'male enhancement' pills

At the root of a bare-knuckled legal battle is an almost ironically appropriate product: over-the-counter pills for, ahem, male sexual enhancement.To get more news about vigrx oil online, you can visit vigrxplus-original.com official website.

But the issues raised in this case in federal court in San Diego go far beyond how supplements with names like Rhino 12 Titanium and Libigrow XXXtreme are packaged and sold.

Rather, the battle between Tauler Smith, a Los Angeles firm founded by two Harvard law school friends (class of 2005), and Gaw Poe, a San Francisco firm founded by two Stanford law school friends (class of 2002), sheds light on a broader question: How far can lawyers go in threatening lawsuits in demand letters before they themselves become vulnerable to charges of extortion?
That's what happened to Tauler Smith when a federal jury in San Diego last week found the firm liable for civil RICO violations.

"We obviously disagree with the verdict," said Tauler Smith's outside counsel, Kevin Cole of KJC Law Group in Beverly Hills. "We intend to continue to litigate and anticipate motion practice in connection with the verdict." Tauler Smith co-founder Robert Tauler declined to comment.
The case began when Tauler Smith fired off demand letters to convenience and liquor store owners between November 2017 and April 2018, threatening to sue for (irony alert) RICO violations as well as false advertising under the Lanham Act.

Tauler Smith, which describes itself on its website as handling "high-stakes" commercial litigation for plaintiffs and defendants, alleged that the stores were selling "illegal" sexual enhancement supplements that were unfairly competing with legitimate sex pills made by the firm's then-client, Outlaw Laboratories in Texas.
"We estimate that you will be liable for more than $100,000 if we pursue this matter," said one letter to a liquor store (submitted as a court exhibit). But the retailer was also offered a "one-time" chance to settle for $9,765 if the owners acted quickly.

In some instances, Tauler Smith made good on its threat to sue, filing lawsuits against 61 store owners in the San Diego area - although these lawsuits, which were consolidated, did not include racketeering allegations.

Underlying the lawsuits against the stores is what seems to me to be a legitimate concern. Many of the over-the-counter pills in question come from amorphous overseas suppliers, and while they may claim to be natural dietary supplements, the Food and Drug Administration warns that some have been found to contain hidden drugs such as the active ingredients in Viagra and Cialis.