Tuesday, President Trump fired the two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission, Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. President Trump’s action leaves Chair Andrew Ferguson (R) and Commissioner...more
With a Republican majority soon to be at the helm of the Federal Trade Commission, businesses are watching closely to see whether and how the regulatory landscape will shift. In this post, we break down ten things we, as...more
The FTC released two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) and an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) that would establish a new Earnings Claims Rule and expand the existing Business Opportunity Rule – changes that...more
President-elect Trump announced his picks to round out the Federal Trade Commission for his second administration. Trump tapped current Republican Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to be elevated to chair the agency, and nominated...more
With the election decided, the speculation has begun. In our area of the law, that means a number of things, including what will happen at the FTC – with the current Commission and Chair Khan, with recently announced rules...more
Last week, the FTC, by a 3-2 vote along party lines, adopted its click-to-cancel rule, which purports to make it easier to cancel gym memberships, streaming services, and the like. [We wrote about it here.] The final rule...more
As the demand for GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy increases with consumers eager to shed pounds, the supplement industry is weighing in. Dietary supplement companies have been considering ways to address this new demand...more
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission issued a staff report documenting its review of 70 publicly available income disclosure statements from a wide range of multi-level marketing (MLM) and direct selling companies...more
Yesterday FTC Staff released updated Business Guidance Concerning Multi-Level Marketing that provides a detailed account of their current perspective on applicable standards governing the direct selling and multi-level...more
Federal courts and NAD are coming to different conclusions on whether disclosures on the back of packages can effectively qualify claims that appear on the fronts of the packages. Some courts – such as courts in the Ninth...more
Over the past two years, we have seen FTC staff express its opinions on the state of the law in multiple ways. In December 2022, for example, staff issued its Health Products Compliance Guidance, intended to supersede the...more
Big, BIG win for the direct selling industry, as Judge Barbara Lynn (N.D. Texas) grants judgment for Neora, LLC (formerly Nerium) on all of the FTC’s claims, including that the company was operating an illegal pyramid scheme...more
In May 2022, the FTC proposed changes to its Endorsement Guides. Among other things, those changes created more prescriptive disclosure requirements for endorsements, imposed various requirements for consumer reviews, and...more
The FTC took unprecedented action yesterday when it moved to impose what it describes as a “blanket prohibition” preventing the company from monetizing young people’s data. The FTC contends that this prohibition is warranted...more
The FTC sent out new penalty offense notices to 670 companies today, warning them that failure to substantiate product claims could result in civil penalties of more than $50,000. The companies also received copies of the...more
As we count down the last days of March, we mark the end of Christine Wilson’s tenure at the Federal Trade Commission. Set to resign March 31, Commissioner Wilson will have served four and a half years at the FTC – a little...more
On Friday, the FTC announced what would ordinarily be an unremarkable enforcement action against a company for unsubstantiated earnings claims. The FTC alleges that WealthPress, an investment advice company purporting to...more
Yesterday, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection released its Health Products Compliance Guidance—a sweeping overhaul of the 1998 Guidance, Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry. Unlike the recently...more
In today’s open meeting, the FTC voted unanimously to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) considering expansions to and revisions of the FTC’s existing Business Opportunity Rule (“BOR”). This will be the...more
On Wednesday, we described draft legislation circulating in the Senate Commerce Committee that would have given the Federal Trade Commission almost unfettered authority to enjoin permanently any act, practice or method of...more
The one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC has renewed calls for Congressional action to expand and codify the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement authority under Section...more
During the Federal Trade Commission’s April 28 open meeting, Commissioners utilized the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC to highlight the implications of the ruling...more
Q: It has been nearly a year since the Supreme Court’s decision in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC foreclosed the FTC’s ability to pursue monetary remedies under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. How has AMG affected the...more
As we previewed last week here, the FTC released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on earnings claims as it embarked on a mission to adopt a rule that would give the FTC, in its own words, “an important new...more
Last Thursday (February 10), the FTC announced that it “will vote” at its February 17 open meeting to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on “deceptive earnings claims for business ventures, gig or other...more