SALT LAKE CITY—The Utah Attorney General’s Office opposed an injunction blocking a new state law that would have banned contact lens manufacturers from using Unilateral Pricing Policies to set minimum retail prices on certain products. Originally scheduled to go into effect in Utah on May 12, 2015, the new law was halted on May 14, 2015, by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, after Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, and Johnson & Johnson Vision Care convinced the court to stop its implementation while their appeal is considered.

This week on Tues., May 26, 2015, Utah state attorneys, joined by discount contact lens retailers 1-800 CONTACTS and Costco, asked the appeals court to lift the injunction. Attorneys for the contact lens manufacturers are scheduled to file counter-arguments to keep the Utah law from going into effect.

In response to this week’s attempt by the Utah Attorney General, 1-800 CONTACTS and Costco to have the injunction lifted, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care said, “We have appealed the Utah District Court’s ruling because we believe the Utah state law violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution and is at odds with Supreme Court precedent. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted our request to hear the appeal and ordered that Utah cannot enforce its anti-UPP law until a decision is made on the appeal. The legal process before the 10th Circuit is continuing, and we will file our next response in June.”

While both Alcon and Bausch + Lomb have stressed in previous statements that they believe the Utah law violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, both companies declined to comment further on this ongoing legislation. Costco would not comment further, and 1-800 CONTACTS could not be reached for comment.