The FTC (the Commission) has given us plenty to write about these days, particularly as it looks for ways to beef up its ability to obtain monetary relief in light of the Supreme Court’s unanimous AMG decision. We have...more
China’s Influencers Suffer Great Leap Backward - The party’s central Internet authority aims to curb rampant celebrity “extravagance” - Oversight, or Overlook? With all the negative attention online culture and social media...more
SDNY: Pepperidge Farm Butter Suit Is Half-Baked - Stalking suit plaintiffs’ counsel is kicked out of the kitchen again - All Publicity Is Good Publicity - As a rule, we don’t mention the names of the law firms involved in the...more
Kanye’s Kicks Cos. Clobbered by Cali Code - Yeezy failed to deliver the goods; part of uptick in MITOR attention Gotta Have It - We made a big deal of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) investigation of and actions on late...more
A new false advertising case against the maker of Alba Botanica sunscreen demonstrates the risks of marketing a company’s environmental credentials. In a recent article, “The Difficult Art of Advertising Carbon Reductions,”...more
The FTC’s Notice of Penalty Offenses concerning endorsements and testimonials is barely a week old and it’s likely already had its intended effect. Hundreds, if not more, of consumer products companies are taking a second or...more
Split FTC Moves Ahead with Fines - New Nectar Sleep consent order proves the Commish isn’t down for the count - Perchance to Scheme? Nectar Sleep—the upstart mattress manufacturer and daughter company of Resident Home...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) announced on Oct. 13 a widespread enforcement action against deceptive endorsement practices. The Commission sent a Notice of Penalty Offenses to more than 700 companies,...more
Swamped Commission Gets Compulsory Life Preserver - Rising tide of merger filings cited to justify new compulsory process resolutions - Multi-Foci - After a 3-2 vote, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) approved...more
To kick off the final day of the National Advertising Division’s (NAD) 2021 virtual conference last week, FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter gave a keynote address laying out her views on consumer privacy and the digital data...more
Starbucks Ads are Up to Puff, For Now - Pity the puff – so often cited as a reason why an advertising statement is not a claim, yet so rarely with success. And just by way of a quick review, a puff is an advertising statement...more
The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) at the federal level, but in the nearly three years since then, little has changed from the perspective of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). From the start,...more
American businesses are under intense pressure to show a commitment to addressing climate change. One form of expressing that commitment will be through advertising. Companies claim to offer “green” products, target “net-zero...more
Gruesome Murder Docudrama True Enough for New York’s Supreme Court -Right-to-privacy protections don’t kick in for murderer represented in “broadly accurate” TV movie - Matlock! According to Variety, “Romeo Killer: The Chris...more
‘Blessing Loom’ Club Just a Pyramid in Drag? FTC says BINT was fleecing participants while demanding vows of silence - Migraines in No Time - There are all sorts of new-agey trappings that accompany the “Blessing Loom” known...more
CARU Warns Kids Off of Consuming Sugary, Fruit-Scented Doll Tears - Sometimes you write a title so strange that a subtitle seems superfluous - Kids Today - The holy grail of toy manufacturing is the collectible—the marketing...more
CARU Pats Unity Technologies on Back, Sends It on Its Way - Inquiry into possible COPPA violations finds the company clean as a whistle - Kumbaya - Normally our newsletter is filled with reports of chicanery,...more
BakerHostetler 2021 Data Security Incident Response Report – Disruption and Transformation - The report provides risk mitigation and compromise response intelligence from more than 1,250 data security incidents the firm...more
5/12/2021
/ Advertising ,
Class Action ,
COPPA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dietary Supplements ,
False Advertising ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food Labeling ,
Product Labels ,
Robocalling ,
Scams
SCOTUS: No Equitable Monetary Relief for FTC Under § 13(b) - Well, the buck stops here (for now). In AMG Capital Management, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Section 13(b) of the...more
5/5/2021
/ Advertising ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Expedia ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTCA Section 13(b) ,
Made in the USA ,
Marketing ,
Settlement
Digitally Generated Storm Clouds Gather Over Artists’ Rights - NFTs open exciting new legal questions for experienced IP lawyers - Thomas Kinkade This Ain’t - It’s a beautiful house. Open and sparse, it’s bordered by clear,...more
4/26/2021
/ Advertising ,
COPPA ,
Digital Assets ,
Endorsements ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Influencers ,
Mobile Apps ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Online Marketplace ,
YouTube
Will Unanimous Supremes Stem the TCPA Tide? With a ‘random’ decision, SCOTUS reshapes the landscape of telemarketing law - What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been - Back in July of last year, we offered a summary of the...more
Instagram Macher Facing Wire Fraud Charges Over Bitcoin - “Jay Mazini” was raking in the virtual currency but didn’t bother paying for it, Feds say …Or Lie Tryin’ - A famous playwright once noted that if you tell an audience...more
4/12/2021
/ Advertising ,
Bitcoin ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
E-Commerce ,
FDA Warning Letters ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food Labeling ,
GMO ,
Marketing ,
Online Marketplace ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Reimbursements ,
Wire Fraud
DraftKings Settles Class Action Lawsuit for $8 Million - Settlement is a hybrid payment whose lion’s share is in-game currency - Two Fair Households - It wasn’t too long ago that DraftKings and FanDuel, the biggest names in...more
FTC Shines Light Inside ‘Dark Patterns’ - Move over cookies, fingerprinting, ad trackers—there’s an old species of internet chicanery in town - Everything Old … It’s hard to find a nongovernmental clearing house filled with...more
3/12/2021
/ Advertising ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
In-Game Purchases ,
Internet Streaming ,
Loot Boxes ,
Marketing ,
Settlement ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Websites
Sean Combs Opens New Front in War Against GBG Sean John - Accuses majority holder of using election-related trademarks to sell goods - Puffy Prologue - The lawsuit between Sean John Combs (AKA Puff Daddy, AKA P. Diddy, AKA...more
3/8/2021
/ Advertising ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Class Action ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Genericide ,
Marketing ,
Name and Likeness ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO