History Report
by Presidential Master Manager Bob Giddens
In the late nineties, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
sued Alpine Industries for not having sufficient documentation to
back up the claims that were made in our literature and training.
Their standards of documentation were very tough. Consequently, we
lost on almost all counts except for smoke, cigarette smoke, and
second hand smoke.
In addition to the areas where we won, the FTC conceded odors before the trial.
Our air purifiers are effective against almost all odors, especially
those of an organic origin. This would include food and garbage
odors, pet and animal odors, people odors, many construction and
industrial odors and much more. Some odors are controlled almost
immediately and others take a while. As an example, the offensive
odor of mold spores in a hotel room can usually be eliminated in
half an hour. We cannot claim mold kill numbers because our research
is not yet complete, but we can claim our effectiveness against the odor.
Through new documentation from Kansas State University we are now able to claim dramatic mold and bacteria kills on surfaces (not in air). More research is ongoing and more claims will be "official" in the near future. It has often been obvious to customers that our units were doing more than we were claiming, but it was our obligation to operate in accordance with what the court laid out.
In the win-loss column this will show as a loss for the company.
Alpine and Bill Converse lost on almost all counts. But there was
never a stoppage of operations or selling. A fine was assessed,
which EcoQuest International paid a few years later when Alpine
dropped its intent to appeal.
The two companies, Alpine Industries and EcoQuest International,
share a common history but have been considered separate companies
since January 2000. This does not stop the stigma of the lawsuit
from reflecting on us and on our products, but it is a legal
distinction of some significance. On a voluntary basis and in the
spirit of cooperation, EcoQuest has complied with the court's
judgment.
We are spending hundreds of
thousands of dollars to get university documentation on what our
units do. We should have that in 2006 or early 2007. We have done lab tests, we
have filing cabinets filled with letters from clients and some
effects of our units are evident to anyone. . .but that kind of
proof or evidence is not sufficient. This time we are
pursuing peer-reviewed studies from major universities. This type of
documentation is considered to be the "gold standard" as far as
studies go.
There was never an accusation that our units didn't work or that
they did harm. The basis of the complaint against Alpine
Industries was that Bill Converse signed a Consent Letter in the
middle nineties agreeing to refrain from using claims that were not
substantiated by a competent authority. The studies we had—although they may have been 100% valid—were not the peer-reviewed
type.
We have acquired various studies and patents from Wein Products and
RGF, Inc, two technology companies that have contributed product
ideas and scientific assistance to EcoQuest since 2004 (these
include a number of peer-reviewed studies such as have been
mentioned).
We also market water technology products, nutritional
supplements, and personal products that are in no way related to
this legal history.