A California federal court denied a Japanese convenience store chain’s motion to dismiss and to strike classwide allegations of food mislabeling, finding the named plaintiff had standing to assert claims for injunctive relief...more
Energizer False Advertising Suit Runs Out of Juice at 9th Circuit - The 9th Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a class action lawsuit alleging that Energizer falsely advertised its AA MAX batteries as "up to 50% longer...more
On May 28, 2024, Chief Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, certified a class of consumers in an action against Barilla Foods....more
Late last month, San Francisco resident Kirstin Cobbs initiated a class action lawsuit against poppi after purchasing its product, poppi prebiotic soda, believing the product to be “gut healthy.” Poppi sodas are packaged in...more
Huggies Diaper Evidence Not a Good "Fit" for #1 Claim, NAD Says - Huggies claimed its diapers were the #1 Best Fitting, a broad claim requiring broad evidence against the market—evidence that the National Advertising...more
In Short - The Situation: In the last month, two courts in the Ninth Circuit allowed human rights focused cases to proceed beyond the pleading stage. These cases seek to impose liability on U.S.-based companies for alleged...more
The National Advertising Division (NAD) referred the website Smarter-Reviews.com (Smarter Reviews) to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on suspicion of publishing advertising disguised as editorial content because it lacks...more
On June 11, 2022, Plaintiffs Matthew Sinatro and Jessica Prost filed a class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California against the Barilla pasta company over alleged false advertising....more
What Does It Mean to "Buy" Digital Content? On August 13, 2020, David Andino sued Apple Inc. (Apple) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California for violations of three California state laws: 1)...more
Takeaway: Context matters in false advertising class actions. Factors such as how an allegedly false representation is displayed, where it is displayed, and what else is disclosed on the label or advertisement all can...more
Conagra Brands recently emerged victorious when Judge William H. Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted summary judgment in its favor, tossing claims that the company disguises the...more
Takeaway: Federal courts sitting in diversity are supposed to apply state law. There is a critical distinction, however, between substantive rights created by state law, on the one hand, and remedies (especially equitable...more
Last month, a California court, for a second time, dismissed a class action complaint asserting that Ghirardelli’s advertising for its “Classic White” “Premium Baking Chips” created the false impression that the product...more
Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit held that state law cannot expand or confine a federal court’s power to issue equitable restitution because federal courts are bound by traditional equitable principles, which require,...more
Several months into the widespread business closures and event cancellations resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic, we have seen businesses adopt a range of strategies to respond. Those strategies, in addition to the closures...more
The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a consumer fraud class action pursuing restitution under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) because the plaintiff failed to show she lacked an adequate legal remedy. Sonner v....more
On April 8, 2020, Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted Ghirardelli Chocolate’s motion to dismiss a putative nationwide class action brought by several consumers...more
California has long been considered a hospitable place to bring a class action, and accordingly it’s also been a popular one. But some class action plaintiffs in the Golden State have encountered an unlikely hurdle: the...more
On May 8, 2019, the California Supreme Court will hear oral argument regarding an important issue involving class certification in California state courts: how to apply the requirement of ascertainability in the class...more
2018 Food Industry Decisions with Bite - Food for Thought is a review of significant court decisions affecting the food, beverage, dietary supplements and personal care products industry. Although many cases in this...more
After Ninth Circuit review, it remains to be seen whether a nutritional supplement maker can claim that ginkgo biloba leaf extract and vinpocetine supplements improve “alertness,” “mental clarity, and memory” in the face of...more
On January 14, Plaintiffs in the consolidated case of Veera v. Banana Republic, LLC, et al., filed for approval of a preliminary class action settlement after Plaintiffs Veera and Etman successfully argued that “frustration”...more
On November 8, 2018, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict in a consumer class action deceptive advertising case in favor of Defendants Boiron Inc. and Boiron USA, Inc. (together, “Boiron”), the sellers of a homeopathic...more
In Durnford v. MusclePharm Corp., plaintiff Durnford asserted that the company’s “Arnold Schwarzenegger Series Iron Mass” supplements are falsely labeled because the protein content of the supplements is misstated. Durnford...more
Takeaway: Creative legal theories are easier to allege than prove. And a putative class representative does not always make the best deponent, especially when it comes to substantiating the key allegations in an unfair and...more