Court Rejects LG Electronics Sticker Arguments

In an update to this story, a federal judge in Washington DC has refused to grant consumer electronics maker LG Electronics an injunction that would have allowed it to sell refrigerators with an “Energy Star” sticker on it after the Department of Energy determined the refrigerators did not meet its guidelines.

At the center of this sticky fight is a 2008 agreement between LG Electronics and the DoE regarding the testing of one line of refrigerators. LG argued that the agreement created an industry standard or, in the alternative, should apply to other refrigerators made by the company. The judge rejected that argument, as well as the argument that the company would suffer irreparable harm to its reputation.

The ruling affects some 40,000 unsold units, which will now have to be sold without the “Energy Star” sticker. LG Electronics can continue marketing other models that meet the DoD’s guidelines for energy efficency with the sticker, a fact the court considered when looking at the possible harm to reputation.