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According to documents obtained by Outdoor Life, Robinson Outdoor Products, LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 28, 2017 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Minnesota.
Robinson Outdoor is the parent company of the ScentBlocker brand of clothing and scent-eliminating products.
Deer hunters are likely quite familiar with ScentBlocker, as well as ScentLok. For years, the duo has been the dominant force in carbon-based scent control clothing and have had legions of followers – as well as skeptics – over whether carbon-infused clothing can truly control or eliminate human scent in the woods.
This week’s filing is the most recent court visit by the company but not its first. In 2016, A.L.S. Enterprises, Inc., the makers of ScentLok, sued Robinson Outdoor Products for a series of ads launched in 2013 in which Robinson began advertising its Trinity Technology this way: “Trinity adsorbs odor up to 40% more than carbon” and “up to 200% more than Zeolite.”
In May 2016, a jury found Robinson Outdoor Products liable for willfully presenting false advertisements regarding its Trinity Technology’s effectiveness and awarded A.L.S. a settlement of $3.8 million. That settlement was later vacated in a U.S. District Court.
In a Feb. 11, 2017, press release, Robinson Outdoor Pesident Scott Shultz said: “The Opinion [of the Court] confirms what we knew all along about the impact our Trinity scent-control technology messaging had when it came to illegally harming ScentLok sales: it didn’t.” Robinson Outdoor Products was also granted its motion for a new trial if the final ruling should be overturned on appeal.
Outdoor Life attempted to contact Robinson Outdoors for comment but calls were not returned as of press time.
And while the future of the ScentBlocker brand remains unclear, Shultz would appear to still be in the apparel game. Last year, he helped to launch Pnuma, a direct-to-consumer line of hunting clothing.
