While class actions centered around “natural” claims remain popular with the plaintiffs’ bar, this past year has seen some growing skepticism from courts towards such lawsuits, particularly where plaintiffs fail to adequately...more
Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California recently dismissed a putative class action alleging that Sprout Foods’s nutritional claims on its baby and toddler food labels misled consumers into believing that...more
Judge Cathy Seibel of the Southern District of New York recently dismissed a putative class action lawsuit challenging various environmental impact and animal welfare claims made by Allbirds in ads for its wool shoes. In...more
2021 saw well over 500 new class actions in the advertising space. With the number of these cases increasing, it is more important than ever for businesses to stay on top of the latest trends, including the types of products...more
As discussed in our earlier post, on October 13, 2021, the FTC issued “Notice of Penalty Offenses” letters to more than 700 companies, placing them on notice of civil penalties up to $43,792 per violation if they use...more
10/29/2021
/ Endorsements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fake Reviews ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Marketing ,
Online Reviews ,
Section 5 ,
Testimonial Statements ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
We recently blogged about Champion Petfoods’ success in a Minnesota district court case alleging that it misrepresented the quality of its dog food and ingredients. Well, Champion Petfoods came back to defend its title in...more
8/11/2021
/ Advertising ,
Animal Food ,
Article III ,
Class Action ,
Evidence ,
False Advertising ,
Food Labeling ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Marketing ,
Lack of Evidence ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Standing ,
Summary Judgment
In a recent opinion out of the Southern District of New York, Judge William H. Pauley III certified three classes of plaintiffs in New York, California, and Florida who allege that KIND LLC, the manufacturer of KIND Bars,...more
5/26/2021
/ Advertising ,
All Natural ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
False Advertising ,
Food Labeling ,
Food Marketing ,
Nutrition Facts Labels ,
Predominance Requirement ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The Fourth Circuit recently overturned a district court’s decision to apply an analogous state law statute of limitations to bar a claim for false advertising under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act. In doing so, the Court held that...more
Now that 2020 is in the rearview mirror (*collective sigh of relief*), we wanted to share our perspective on notable decisions and trends from this past year at the National Advertising Division and the advertising...more
1/29/2021
/ Advertising ,
Beverage Manufacturers ,
Consumer Product Companies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dietary Supplements ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food Labeling ,
Health Claims ,
Labeling ,
Marketing ,
NAD ,
NARB ,
Personal Care Products
Now that 2020 is in the rearview mirror (*collective sigh of relief*), we wanted to share our perspective on notable decisions and trends from this past year at the National Advertising Division and the advertising...more
1/28/2021
/ Advertising ,
Beverage Manufacturers ,
Consumer Product Companies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dietary Supplements ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food Labeling ,
Health Claims ,
Labeling ,
Marketing ,
NAD ,
NARB ,
Personal Care Products
Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California recently dismissed with prejudice a putative class action alleging that the Omni luxury hotel chain deceptively advertised its...more
While 2020 was an eventful year in the world of advertising law, it feels wrong to begin any type of “year in review” without acknowledging the global events of this year, and the challenges they have brought to every...more
1/13/2021
/ Advertising ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Class Action ,
Counterfeiting ,
Disgorgement ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food Labeling ,
Lanham Act ,
Marketing ,
Product Labels ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In a dispositive decision during a bench trial, federal district court Judge Nora Fischer of the Western District of Pennsylvania found that the FTC failed to present any credible expert testimony to support its suit for...more
We previously blogged about the dismissal without prejudice of a putative consumer class action alleging that the well-known confectioner Ghirardelli misled consumers into believing its “Premium Baking Chips Classic White...more
9/1/2020
/ Advertising ,
Amended Complaints ,
Consumers Legal Remedies Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
False Advertising ,
Food Labeling ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Product Labels ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL) ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The Ninth Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action alleging that defendant Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. (“Dr Pepper”) violated various California consumer fraud laws by using the term “diet” in naming...more
2/8/2020
/ Advertising ,
Beverage Manufacturers ,
Brand ,
Class Action ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Dismissals ,
False Advertising ,
Food Labeling ,
Health Claims ,
Leave to Amend ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On December 17, 2018, Judge Andrew J. Guilford in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted defendant Unilever’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing all claims in a putative class action...more
The Southern District of New York recently dismissed a putative class action against Cytosport, the maker of Muscle Milk protein powder. The plaintiff, Orlando Bautista, alleged that he bought a container of Muscle Milk...more
1/3/2017
/ Advertising ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Dismissals ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Fraud ,
Negligent Misrepresentation ,
Nutritional Supplements ,
Pleading Standards ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Unjust Enrichment
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed in part and affirmed in part a Northern District of California ruling concerning the “All Natural Fruit” labeling on Dole’s packaged fruit products. Brazil v. Dole Packaged...more
10/18/2016
/ All Natural ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Dole Food ,
False Advertising ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Labeling ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Marketing ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Natural Products
Hungry to prevent more companies from selling allegedly bogus weight loss products, the FTC has settled yet another false advertising suit against various sellers of diet pills, in a case similar to February’s Sale Slash...more
On November 3, 2015, Judge Alsup of the Northern District of California denied Cricket Wireless’s motion to enforce an arbitration clause against customers who say they never saw or agreed to the clause.
Plaintiffs...more
For plaintiffs concerned that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ June 19, 2015 decision in Brown v. GNC Corp. signaled the muscling in of a stricter new pleading standard for false advertising class actions nationwide, a...more
9/30/2015
/ False Advertising ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Gerber ,
GNC ,
Health Claims ,
Jury Trial ,
Labeling ,
Misleading Statements ,
Pleading Standards ,
Product Labels ,
Product Packaging ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
While California historically has a reputation as the most plaintiff-friendly forum for alleged consumer class action deceptive advertising cases, Florida is emerging as stiff competition for the title after a recent trio of...more
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a circuit split on the crucial issue of who has standing to sue for false advertising under the Lanham Act. In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Scalia, the Court held that to...more