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Advertising News & Analysis - April 25, 2013

In this issue: - Venable Welcomes Randy Miller - FTC Survey Estimates Fraud Affected 25.6 Million Americans in 2011 - New Florida Law May Axe Charitable Promos, Cause Marketing Campaigns - What to...more

What’s That Charge on My Mobile Phone Bill? The FTC Wants to Know

“Cramming” – while it sounds like the experience of being in the middle row of a cross-country flight – actually refers to unauthorized charges on phone bills. Residential and business telecommunications customers have...more

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Underscores Need for Better Work Place Information Policies

News coverage about the recent decision in U.S. v. Nosal heralds the decision as preventing the government from going after employees who use company computers to check their Facebook status or the latest sports scores. But...more

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Underscores Need for Better Work Place Information Policies

News coverage about the recent decision in U.S. v. Nosal heralds the decision as preventing the government from going after employees who use company computers to check their Facebook status or the latest sports scores. But...more

California’s Shine the Light Act: Plenty of Reason$ for Businesses Not to Shine It On

Recent class actions regarding California’s Shine the Light Act illuminate the need for California businesses to pay attention to their privacy policy compliance practices. Violations of the Act can incur civil penalties of...more

Playtex Loses $13 Million in False Advertising Case

Some cases just stink . . . literally! Especially when they involve baby diapers and advertising claims about diaper disposal pails and their ability to control odors. Munchkin Inc. sued its competitor in the diaper pail...more

Playtex Loses $13 Million in False Advertising Case

Some cases just stink . . . literally! Especially when they involve baby diapers and advertising claims about diaper disposal pails and their ability to control odors. Munchkin Inc. sued its competitor in the diaper pail...more

FTC Targets “Up To” Claims

Advertising claims that are deceptive or misleading often draw the ire of the Federal Trade Commission. That’s why avoiding the use of potentially misleading or deceptive adverting is advisable. Of course, what seems...more

Advertising Important For Small Business, But Should Be Done Right

Marketing is crucial to the success of a business, especially a business trying to gain a foothold in a tough or competitive environment, and businesses that need to reassert or redefine their identity in the...more

Capital One Required to Pay $140 Million in Consumer Refunds

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) engaged in its first major enforcement action by requiring Capital One to refund 2 million consumers approximately $140 million for profits gained from deceptive...more

Amerigas Propane, L.P. v. Opinion Corp. d/b/a PissedConsumer.com

Answer, Affirmative Defenses and Jury Demand

See the affirmative defenses. From BusinessInsider.com: "Propane giant AmeriGas recently sued online complaints forum Pissed Consumer for trademark infringement. "Gas company executives were presumably upset with how...more

Devere Group GMBH v. Opinion Corp. et al.

Order Dismissing Trademark Claim Against PissedConsumer.com for Failure to State a Claim

Order dismissing, for failure to state a claim under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), defamation claim pleaded as a Lanham Act trademark infringement in attempt to circumvent DMCA section 230....more

Amerigas Propane, L.P. v. Opinion Corp. d/b/a PissedConsumer.com

Order on Motion to Dismiss

Per blogger and law professor Eric Goldman: "You may recall PissedConsumer, the site that solicits user gripes, SEOs the crud out of them, and then offers the griped business pay-to-play to downgrade the visibility of those...more

VO Group, LLC v. Opinion Corp. et al.

Decision and Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Motion to Dismiss

Order and opinion on motion to dismiss complaint filed in New York Supreme Court (trial level), Kings County (i.e., Brooklyn), by timeshare sales company seeking to censor criticism of the company found on...more

In Nutella Advertising Case, Whom Is the System Protecting?

The world is full of surprises, like the fact that Nutella chocolate spread is loaded with saturated fat and sugar and is not itself healthy. Ferrero USA, Inc., the company that makes Nutella, learned the hard way that...more

Abbott Labs to Pay $1.6 Billion to Settle Consumer Protection and Misbranding Claims

Abbott Laboratories (Abbott), an Illinois company, will pay over $1.6 billion in penalties to the federal government and several states related to its alleged illegal promotion of the prescription drug Depakote for off-label...more

Advertising Law -- April 27, 2012

In This Issue: Duracell Battery Class Action Lawsuit; Class Action Settlement Seeks To “Stop” GameStop’s Allegedly Deceptive Marketing Practices; Commercial Email with Falsified or Misrepresented Header Information...more

SUPER BOWL® trademark post XI: Consumer Reports and the super-duper exemption

The truth about SUPER BOWL trademark enforcement by the NFL and the people who are confused about it....more

In The Matter of "Verizon Wireless"

Complaint, Request for Investigation, Injunction, and Other Relief

EPIC Files Complaint, Urges FTC to Investigate Verizon's Recent Changes to Privacy Practices EPIC filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission charging that Verizon Wireless has engaged in unfair and deceptive...more

California Court Dismisses UCL Claim Over Fiji Water

Sometimes a green drop is just a green drop. Last week, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, dismissed a purported class action against the owners of Fiji Water, finding as a matter of law that the...more

University Communications, Inc. v. Capital Market Svcs., Inc.

Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Complaint

Our client brought this breach of contract action against a former tenant in our client's data center located in New Jersey. Defendants (the tenant and its alter ego parent company) brought a motion to dismiss on several...more

Software Research Group, Inc. v. WWW.PISSEDCONSUMER.COM

Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant Opinion Corp.'s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint

This was a lawsuit consisting of five different versions of a defamation claim, brought against a website and an unknown number of anonymous defendants. The website, called PissedConsumer.com, was operated by movant, Opinion...more

Someone said derogatory statements about me, what can I do?

What can you do when you learn someone has made defamatory statements about you? Read to find out, and then: Contact: George E. Bourguignon, Jr. (413) 746-8008 gbourguignon@bourguignonlaw.com ...more

"To whom it may concern": Response to inquries regarding the S&L Vitamins v. Australian Gold settlement

Cover letter and basic explanation sent to inquiring persons with respect to the ultimate outcome in the S&L Vitamins v. Australian Gold litigation....more

Newsletter of the Advertising, Marketing & Media Practice Group of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

IN THIS ISSUE: *FTC Announces Record Telemarketing Fraud Sweep *Craigslist and eBay in Court Over Online Classified Ad Sites *Study Finds Comcast and Cox Obstruct File-Sharing *MySpace Wins $230 Million Award Against...more