What specific legal outcomes resulted from the 2017 patent lawsuit against Axe Wellness?

1. The complaint and the relief sought: what Certified Nutraceuticals alleged

Certified Nutraceuticals’ July 2017 complaint in U.S. federal court accused Axe Wellness and many other companies of using patented processes to extract collagen from chicken sternum cartilage and egg membrane, and specifically alleged Axe Wellness sold, labeled and promoted a product described as “Hydrolyzed Chicken Collagen Type II” that infringed those patents; the complaint sought an injunction to stop production, marketing and sale of any collagen made by the patented processes ^[1].

2. Who was involved and why Axe Wellness drew attention

The Tennessean noted Axe Wellness’ rapid commercial growth—Inc. 5000 rank and $11.6 million in revenues in 2016—which helped explain why the company appeared among more than a dozen named defendants in a multi‑target enforcement strategy by the patent holder seeking to protect its proprietary extraction methods ^[1]. The complaint singled out marketing claims and alleged the defendants employed patented processes “without permission or compensation” to manufacture dietary collagen used for cartilage and tendon repair ^[1].

3. What the public reporting records about immediate legal steps

The publicly available article documents the filing itself and the relief requested—injunctive relief and an attempt to stop alleged infringement—but does not report subsequent filings such as motions to dismiss, discovery disputes, settlement notices, verdicts, injunctions entered by the court, or damage awards involving Axe Wellness ^[1]. In other words, the contemporaneous news coverage shows the start of litigation but not any endpoint or judicial disposition in the materials provided ^[1].

4. Typical paths for patent suits and what that implies for interpreting silence

Patent litigation is expensive and time‑consuming, and more than 95% of patent infringement suits settle before trial, according to legal guidance on patent‑defense strategy; defendants often negotiate licenses or confidential settlements to limit costs and business disruption, which can explain why public reporting sometimes stops after the initial filing if parties resolve matters privately ^[2]. That statistical context suggests several plausible outcomes—dismissal, settlement, licensing, or trial verdict—but the specific result for Axe Wellness is not documented in the supplied sources ^[2].

5. Alternative viewpoints, hidden agendas and limits of the record

Certified Nutraceuticals, as patentee, had a clear commercial interest in enforcing its extraction‑method patents; the complaint’s public framing emphasized patent protection and alleged false claims about clinical research for defendants’ products, while Axe Wellness’ business profile and marketing could be portrayed as aggravating factors in the plaintiff’s press narrative ^[1]. The supplied sources do not include a defense statement from Axe Wellness, court docket entries, or later articles reporting settlement or judgment, so any assertion about a win, loss, licensing deal, or dismissal would be speculative beyond the filings cited here ^{[1] [2]}.

6. Bottom line: what can be stated with certainty from the provided reporting

From the documents provided, the only verifiable legal outcome is that Certified Nutraceuticals filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Axe Wellness in July 2017 seeking an injunction and alleging unauthorized use of patented avian‑collagen extraction methods; there is no documented final legal disposition, settlement, or court judgment involving Axe Wellness in these sources, and confirming any subsequent outcome would require additional court docket searches or reporting beyond the supplied materials ^{[1] [2]}.