On April 1, 2020, FDA issued a guidance document instructing companies on how to notify the agency of a permanent discontinuance or interruption of manufacturing of certain products pursuant to Section 506C of the FDCA (21...more
Food and beverage manufacturers are well accustomed to heeding counsel’s advice of dotting their “I’s” and crossing their “T’s” to ensure their product labels comply with applicable governmental regulations....more
Massachusetts state and federal courts issued a number of important product liability decisions in 2017. The Product Liability and Toxic Tort Litigation Group at Nutter recently reviewed these cases. Highlighted below are...more
Fake Subscription Notices, Real FTC Lawsuit - Fake subscription notices are the subject of a new lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission in an Oregon federal court. The defendants, a web of dozens of...more
On March 18, 2016, Pom Wonderful LLC made closing arguments in its trial against Coca-Cola for the alleged misleading marketing of a pomegranate-blueberry juice which contained only trace amounts of either pomegranate or...more
In recent years, the FTC and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (“CSPI”) seem to have seen disease claims everywhere, regardless of whether the FDA has deemed the same claims appropriate, non-disease...more
28 U.S.C. § 1782: A Powerful Tool in Global Disputes - As the number and complexity of cross-border and multi-jurisdictional disputes increase, companies can use 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to obtain evidence from U.S.-based...more
Response To FCC’s New Net Neutrality Regs Anything But Neutral - In a split vote, the Federal Communications Commission approved a new net neutrality measure that would ban fast lanes and re-label broadband as a...more
In an opinion addressing the amount and type of scientific evidence required to substantiate disease treatment and prevention claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the Federal Trade...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court decision denying a preliminary injunction motion in a trademark infringement action, holding that the district court committed clear error...more
Jury Decides Whether Earlier Trademark Can Be Used For Priority - In HANA FINANCIAL, INC. v. HANA BANK, No. 13-1211, the Supreme Court held that whether two trademarks may be tacked for purposes of determining priority...more
Food for Thought reports on significant court decisions affecting the food industry. The focus of this edition is on several food-related cases pertaining to class certification; particularly, on district court decisions...more
The year 2014 saw some important developments in the area of intellectual property law. A number of intellectual property-related issues even made national headlines. Who can forget the public debate over the rightful...more
The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Federal Trade Commission a critical win on January 30, 2015 by affirming the Commission’s January 2013 decision holding POM Wonderful LLC in violation of the FTC...more
In part two of this two-part series, we explore two critical takeaways for those facing potential government intervention: (1) the implications of the Court’s deference to the Commission, and (2) whether a substantive...more
A few years ago, I wrote a column addressing a case in which Pom Wonderful LLC sued Coca Cola Company in connection with the marketing of one of its pomegranate-blueberry juice products. That case dealt with whether one of...more
On January 30, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its long-awaited opinion in the POM case. In a press release, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or the Commission) Chairwoman Edith...more
In a much-awaited decision on Friday, January 30, the D.C. Circuit upheld the Federal Trade Commission’s decision that pomegranate juice maker POM Wonderful LLC engaged in false or misleading advertising by claiming its...more
POM Wonderful vs. FTC in DC Court of AppealsIn this first post of a two-part series, we take a closer look at last Friday’s decision in POM Wonderful v. FTC by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which has...more
On Jan. 30, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed the FTC’s ruling that POM Wonderful made false and misleading advertising claims that its pomegranate juice products were effective in fighting various...more
Earlier this year, in POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co.,[1] the Supreme Court examined the interaction between the Lanham Act’s prohibition against false advertising and the FDCA’s prohibition against food, drug and...more
On September 19, 2014, Pom Wonderful, LLC dropped its Ninth Circuit appeal of a ruling that dismissed its state deceptive advertising and unfair competition claims against Coca-Cola, a sibling case to a recent Supreme Court...more
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court in POM Wonderful LLC v. The Coca Cola Co. (June 12, 2014) held that the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) does not preclude a private party from bringing a Lanham Act claim...more
In POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co., decided last month, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that companies can bring unfair competition actions under the Lanham Act even when their competitors have complied with the Federal...more
POM Wonderful LLC (“POM”) produces and sells a pomegranate-blueberry juice blend. POM brought a Lanham Act suit against Coca-Cola for allegedly marketing one of its juices in such a way that it misled consumers into thinking...more