The Florida company billed itself as “the nation’s premier source for PPE,” court papers say.

In reality, the firm marketed and sold face masks that purported to be 3M N95 masks, but were in fact shoddy counterfeit knockoffs, a lawsuit alleges.

Now a federal judge in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota has slapped that company, Nationwide Source, with a temporary injunction that prevents the firm from using any 3M trademarks or marks similar to 3M in any effort to manufacture, distribute, advertise, promote or sell goods or services, including 3M brand N95 masks.

The ruling comes amid a lawsuit against Nationwide Source that is being pressed by 3M, parent company of Top 40 promotional products supplier 3M/Promotional Markets (asi/91240).

Demand for 3M’s N95 respirator masks has been rampant during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the masks are a piece of personal protective equipment that’s essential to guarding against viral spread among frontline workers. Unfortunately, 3M says, fraud related to the masks has also been rampant, with the firm investigating some 10,000 fraud reports globally and filing 25 lawsuits since the pandemic began.

Nationwide Source, 3M asserts, is among the fraud perpetrators exploiting demand for illicit gains.

The “defendant and other counterfeiters misuse 3M’s reputation, goodwill and famous trademarks to deceive consumers and sell fake products,” 3M wrote in its court filing against Nationwide Source. “In addition to this significant public health risk, [the] defendant’s actions are further damaging 3M and its brand, which the public has come to rely on for high quality and effective PPE.”

According to the injunction request that 3M filed, Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis was among the customers that purchased masks from Nationwide. The healthcare institution bought about 10,000 masks at a price that was 625% above what 3M sells the masks for, according to the injunction request.

The hospital began looking into the authenticity of the respirators in December after a nurse raised concerns about the coverings not fitting properly. 3M joined the investigation, and it was determined that the masks were fake – a reality, 3M says, that “endangered the lives of essential medical workers.”

“Such misconduct risks public health [and] impairs the supply chain supporting healthcare workers and other first responders fighting the pandemic,” 3M says in its request for an injunction.

Court papers state that Nationwide Source promoted itself on social media, including through tweets, as a dealer of 3M products. The company, which has been incorporated since May 2020, is not a 3M dealer.

With estimated North American promotional product revenue of $88.4 million, 3M/Promotional Markets ranked 17th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the promo industry.

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