Barnes & Thornburg scored a clean win for toiletries brand Dude Wipes when a federal judge in California dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that the company misled consumers by advertising its products as “Assembled in USA.”
On Oct. 1, 2025, U.S. District Judge Robert Huie granted B&T’s motion to dismiss the case brought by Benjamin Karter and Diego Ornelas, finding that a reasonable consumer would understand “Assembled in USA” to mean that a product only contained domestically sourced components — a critical distinction that validated Dude Wipes' labeling approach and provided important legal clarity for manufacturers navigating country-of-origin claims.
The dismissed case was part of a surge in “Made in America” litigation that has swept across consumer products industries in 2025. According to The Wall Street Journal, 13 proposed class-action suits over "Made in U.S.A." claims were filed in the first half of 2025 alone—nearly double the seven filed in all of 2024 and the largest annual total since at least 2011. This wave of litigation has swept across multiple industries, ensnaring household names such as Goya Foods, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Unilever, and McCormick, among others.
According to consumer advocacy group Truth in Advertising, only five of 80 similar cases tracked since 2011 have been dismissed.
Judge Huie’s ruling establishes important precedent for other manufacturers by recognizing meaningful distinctions between “Made in USA,” “Manufactured in USA,” and “Assembled in USA” claims. The decision recognizes that consumers understand nuanced distinctions in manufacturing terminology, particularly the difference between products fully “Made in USA” versus those “Assembled in USA” with components from multiple sources.
The B&T team was led by partner Christine Skozylas, and included partners Paul Olszowka and Eric Beste, and associate Oliver McClymonds.