When evaluating how to address what you believe constitutes infringement, false advertising, or unfair competition, the decision to send a cease and desist letter or to file a lawsuit becomes an important one. Is there a right approach in each instance? No. There are pros and cons to each and, in a typical lawyer answer,
FTC Sues Marketers of “Business Coaching” Services
The FTC filed a lawsuit earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah charging telemarketers with violating the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The FTC alleges that defendants deceptively claimed their “business coaching” would help consumers earn thousands of dollars a month by starting a home-based Internet business.
Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program
When hoping to resolve advertising concerns or disputes quickly and easily, companies should not only consider utilizing the National Advertising Division (“NAD”), but also the potentially lesser-known Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (“ERSP”). ESRP is a self-regulatory program administrated for the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (“ASRC”) by the Council of Better Business Bureaus. The program was established
Marketing to Children
When marketing products or services to children, companies should be aware of applicable statutes and guidance and should be particularly cautious with their advertising claims.
Lanham Act & FTC Act
The prohibitions against false, misleading, and deceptive advertising under the Lanham Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act of course apply to advertising claims
FTC Sues Lending Club for Deceptive Advertising
The FTC filed a lawsuit this week against Lending Club, a peer-to-peer lending company that operates an online marketplace for personal loans. The lawsuit accuses Lending Club of luring consumers to its website with online advertisements promising “no hidden fees,” only to go ahead and deduct significant “up-front” origination fees from the loan proceeds. As
Importance of Claim Substantiation
Failing to have adequate substantiation for advertising claims can land companies in hot water. Case in point: The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently announced that it had settled charges against a company and its CEO related to their advertising of anti-aging products using what the FTC believed were false or unsubstantiated claims. According to the
FTC’s Do Not Call Registry Data Book
Following up on my blog post related to the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) prohibition on illegal sales calls and robocalls, today the FTC issued its National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2017. Now in its ninth year, the 2017 fiscal year Data Book contains “statistical data about phone numbers on
Love Is Not An Ingredient
Last month, the Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) sent a lengthy warning letter to Nashoba Brook Bakery, a bakery based in Massachusetts, identifying a number of alleged violations of food regulations and labeling regulations. One such allegation was that the bakery’s Nashoba Granola product improperly listed “love” as an ingredient on its label. Specifically, the
Regulation of Dietary Supplements
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) regulates dietary supplements as food, not as drugs. In general, dietary supplements are taken orally and contain a dietary ingredient such as a vitamin, mineral, amino acid, herb, botanical, or other substance used to supplement the diet. The FDA warns consumers that dietary supplements may be harmful, may
FTC Goes After Misleading “Organic” Product Claims
Moonlight Slumber, LLC, an Illinois company that advertised its baby mattresses as “organic,” has agreed to settle FTC charges that it misrepresented or could not support these and other claims to consumers.
The FTC’s administrative complaint alleged that in marketing and advertising its baby mattresses, Moonlight Slumber misrepresented a range of claims on its website