Intellectual Property Law

99% True

By Marty Schwimmer

WSJ: Kills 99.9% of Germs - Under Some Lab Conditions:

Everything from hand-sanitizing liquids to products like computer keyboards, shopping carts and tissues tout that they kill 99.9%, or 99.99%, of common bacteria and fungi.

But some of these numbers look like the test scores in a class with a very generous grading curve. They often don't include all pesky germs, and are based on laboratory tests that don't represent the imperfections of real-world use. Human subjects, or countertops, in labs are cleaned first, then covered on the surface with a target bug. That is a far cry from a typical kitchen or a pair of grimy hands.

Advertising near-total effectiveness is common; AT&T Wireless's television ads touting its network coverage of 97% of the U.S. is just the latest example. But it is especially common for health products. Naturally, companies make the claims because they sell products.

Full post as published by Trademark Blog on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).