The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision striking down parts of Idaho’s ag-gag law, which aims to deter undercover investigation by making it a crime to lie to gain entry into animal facilities, is the latest court decision to...more
Competitive markets and squeezed margins are forcing retailers to be more innovative in their advertising efforts. More frequently, we are seeing advertisements for "free trial" periods for goods and services, often leading...more
1/24/2018
/ Advertising ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Canada ,
Caudalie ,
Coty ,
European Commission ,
Retailers ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Subscription Services ,
Transgender ,
UK ,
Website Accessibility
2017 was a busy year for retailers and businesses with an online presence, as they faced a wave of demand letters and lawsuits alleging that their websites are inaccessible to the visually impaired and/or hearing impaired in...more
1/8/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Blue Apron ,
Corporate Counsel ,
CVS ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Hobby Lobby ,
Internet Retailers ,
NPRM ,
Retailers ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Winn-Dixie Stores
Numerous community banks that had received demand letters from the advocacy group Access Now alleging that their websites and mobile apps are inaccessible in violation of Title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act (the...more
1/2/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Community Banks ,
Demand Letter ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Mobile Apps ,
Settlement ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
In response to the Federal Communications Commission’s vote yesterday to dismantle the net neutrality rules regulating businesses that connect consumers to the internet, online retailers have responded that they will support...more
The California Proposition 65 regulation allowing a point-of-sale warning for bisphenol-A (BPA) in food and beverage products expires on December 30, 2017. After that date, retailers and manufacturers likely cannot rely on...more
From 2 January 2018, the rules on how you can portray under-18s in advertising will get stricter. Marketing communications in non-broadcast media (including newspapers, direct marketing communications, posters, online...more
11/30/2017
/ Advertising ,
Breach of Contract ,
Cosmetics ,
Diversity ,
EU ,
Fashion Industry ,
France ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Human Trafficking ,
Managers ,
Minors ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
Photographs ,
Retailers ,
UK ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility
Courts across the country continue to weigh in on the issue of website accessibility. Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire denied a Motion to Dismiss filed by online food delivery...more
Courts across the country continue to weigh in on the issue of website accessibility. Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire denied a motion to dismiss filed by online food delivery servicer Blue...more
11/21/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Public Accommodation ,
Split of Authority ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
The next wave of lawsuits involving California Proposition 65 and food products may allege exposure to furfuryl alcohol, a chemical commonly found in a wide variety of thermally processed foods and listed as a carcinogen...more
In a decision likely to have important implications for regulation of commercial speech, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a San Francisco ordinance requiring warnings about the health effects of certain...more
UK Competition Authority Warns Creative Sector About Price Fixing and Information Sharing -
On 12th September 2017 the UK Competition Authority,the Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") sent an open letter to...more
10/3/2017
/ Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) ,
Cartels ,
Caudalie ,
Cosmetics ,
Costco ,
Distributors ,
EU ,
Information Sharing ,
Microbeads ,
Price-Fixing ,
Product Defects ,
Tiffany and Company ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Warning Letters
A federal district court has ordered Costco to pay Tiffany at least $19.4 million in a trademark infringement battle based on generic diamond engagement rings bearing the “Tiffany” name.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain in the...more
Oregon has become the first state to enact a predictable scheduling law, S.B. 828, regulating employer scheduling practices in the food service, hospitality, and retail industries. The new law will take effect on July 1,...more
On 18 July 2017, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority ("ASA") published a new report which calls for an end to gender stereotyping in advertising. The report comes at the end of an investigation into this issue, during...more
8/1/2017
/ Advertising ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Counterfeiting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
EU ,
EU Single Market ,
Logos ,
Retailers ,
Title III ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
UK ,
Wage and Hour ,
Website Accessibility ,
Work Schedules
Retailers and other businesses that have been waiting for the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to promulgate regulations concerning website accessibility under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”) will...more
Baby food maker Gerber has scored a partial victory in a false labeling would be class action. The Ninth Circuit in Bruton v. Gerber Prods. Co., Case No. 15-15174, has reversed itself and thrown out a deceptive labeling claim...more
Another website accessibility decision against a retailer, this time involving Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. in the Central District of California, highlights the uncertainty of the law and of litigating such cases while courts...more
Retailers with both physical locations and a website should take note that a United States District Court has held that Winn-Dixie violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) because its website was...more
Businesses with an online presence should take note that a United States District Court has held that Winn-Dixie violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) because its website was inaccessible to the...more
The FDA has announced that it is delaying implementation of the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts Label and Serving Size final rules. As we previously reported, the rules were finalized in May 2016 and initially set a...more
Chicago Partners Susan Brice and Thor Ketzback, along with San Francisco Associates Merrit Jones and Thomas Lee, presented on "Toxic" Tort Food Litigation: The Truth Behind the Headline, May 4, via a live presentation in our...more
Requirements take effect today under the FDA’s new Food Safety Verification Program (FSVP), which makes retailers and other businesses that import food into the United States responsible for verifying that the food has been...more
The latest delay by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in implementing new calorie labeling rules gives restaurants and food retailers a little breathing room. Originally set for May 5, the agency pushed back the deadline...more
The Ninth Circuit has revived a proposed class action against Gerber, saying the mother who sued it for labeling its sugar-laden baby food as “natural” only had to prove the labels were misleading, not necessarily false....more