District Court Dismisses E-Waste Suit Against ISRI

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle granted the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ (ISRI) motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Basel Action Network (BAN) against ISRI and the International Association of Electronics Recyclers. The suit alleged ISRI’s “controversial use of its generic certification mark” for its Certified Electronics Recycler program. It its decision, the court determined that it has neither subject matter jurisdiction over the claims nor has BAN stated a valid, independent cause of action which would allow the court to consider BAN’s allegations.

“We are extremely gratified that the court has granted our motion to dismiss and upheld our argument that BAN overreached by filing this lawsuit,” stated ISRI general counsel Scott J. Horne, in a press release. “It is unfortunate that, rather than focusing the charitable organization’s scarce resources on properly enforcing its own ‘pledge’ program, which has recently been shown to be ineffective due to violations of its program by its own program participants, BAN chose to waste its limited resources on this frivolous lawsuit.”

The court has given BAN until Jan. 14, 2011, to file an amended complaint that states an independent cause of action that would have cancellation of the mark as its remedy. If BAN does not amend its complaint by then, the court will dismiss the entire case and enter judgment for ISRI.