The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Endorsement Guides have evolved over the past forty years from regulating celebrity endorsements and testimonial advertisements to policing social media advertising, including influencer...more
On June 8, 2023, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision held that a trademark claim concerning “a squeaky, chewable dog toy designed to look like a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey” which, as a play on words, turns the words...more
6/19/2023
/ Dilution ,
Fair Use ,
First Amendment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Parody ,
Rogers Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Spoofing ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
On May 18, 2023, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of famed rock photographer Lynn Goldsmith against the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.’s (AWF), in a long-awaited decision impacting fair use...more
6/1/2023
/ Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc v Goldsmith ,
Appeals ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Artists ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Derivative Works ,
Fair Use ,
Fine Art ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Photographs ,
SCOTUS ,
The Copyright Act ,
Transformative Use
On January 25, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order entitled “Ensuring the Future is Made in America by All of America’s Workers,” which directs a broad review and strengthening of governmental procurement and...more
5/14/2021
/ Advertising ,
Biden Administration ,
Country of Origin ,
Disclosure ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Made in the USA ,
Manufacturers ,
Product Labels ,
Retailers
In April 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) wrote to Florida-based Teami LLC (“Teami”), a Florida-based producer of Teami tea and skincare products, reminding it of the requirement set forth in the FTC’s Endorsement...more
At the beginning of April, 3M, the nation’s largest producer of the now infamous N95 mask, filed two lawsuits against companies it claimed were confusing and deceiving buyers by falsely associating 3M with the defendants and...more
On February 12, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it had voted 5-0 to approve a proposed Federal Register Notice, seeking comment on whether to make changes to its Guides Concerning the Use of...more
2/14/2020
/ Advertising ,
Celebrity Endorsements ,
Endorsements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Influencers ,
Native Advertising ,
Online Platforms ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Social Networks ,
Targeted Digital Advertising
On November 5, 2019, the United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a guide entitled “Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers” and a video “Do you endorse things on social media?” to alert influencers to the...more
11/8/2019
/ Advertising ,
Best Practices ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Endorsements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Influencers ,
Live Streaming ,
Marketing ,
Online Endorsements ,
Online Videos ,
Photographs ,
Social Media
Sunday Riley launched her skincare firm Sunday Riley Modern Skincare, LLC (“SRMS”) in 2009 and its skincare products, including Good Genes, Power Couple, U.F.O., C.E.O., Luna and Tidal, have enjoyed tremendous success, having...more
11/1/2019
/ Advertising ,
Consent Order ,
Cosmetics ,
Endorsements ,
Fake Reviews ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Marketing ,
Misrepresentation ,
Online Endorsements ,
Online Reviews ,
Section 5 ,
Truth in Advertising
Section 653o of the California Penal Code makes it a misdemeanor to import into the state for commercial purposes, to possess with intent to sell, or sell within the dead body or a product thereof, of a variety of animals....more
On October 12, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 44 and Governor Newsom stated in social media: “I just signed #AB44 — one of the strongest animal rights laws in US History — making California the first state in the...more
10/8/2019
/ California Fish and Game Commission ,
Exports ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hunting ,
Imports ,
Manufacturers ,
Municipalities ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retailers ,
State and Local Government ,
State Bans ,
Trade Policy
On November 20, 2018, the United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed two FTC consent orders against two Georgia-based companies, Creaxion Corporation (“Creaxion”) and Inside Publications, LLC (“Inside”) and their...more
12/7/2018
/ Advertising ,
Athletes ,
Best Practices ,
Consent Order ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Endorsements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Influencers ,
Internet Marketing ,
Misrepresentation ,
Native Advertising ,
Public Relations ,
Social Media
It is no secret that the world of fashion is full of surprises. On Monday, June 4, 2018, Kim Kardashian West won the Council of Fashion Designer of America (“CFDA”) first-time Influencer Award and commented: “I’m kind of...more
8/2/2018
/ Advertising ,
Celebrity Endorsements ,
Fashion Branding ,
Fashion Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Influencers ,
Instagram ,
Internet Marketing ,
Marketing ,
Modeling ,
Social Media
Digitally altered images of models have been a controversial advertising issue for decades. In Great Britain, the Advertising Standards Authority Ltd., which is the governing regulatory advertising body, in 2011 banned...more
2/21/2018
/ Advertising ,
Advertising Standards Authority ,
Cosmetics ,
CVS ,
Digital Media ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
France ,
Getty Images ,
Marketing ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Modeling ,
NAD ,
Photographs ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retailers ,
Social Media ,
Target ,
Truth in Advertising ,
UK
In response to a petition from a coalition of consumer groups last year complaining about the need for disclosures by social media influencers, the FTC recently announced on April 19, 2017 that it had issued more than ninety...more
On March 20, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero for the Central District of California in Robles v. Domino’s Pizza LLC, granted defendant Domino’s Pizza LLC’s motion to dismiss without prejudice and ruled that the...more
4/3/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Due Process ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Technology ,
Title III ,
Unruh Civil Rights Act ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
On March 22, 2017, the United States Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas in Star Athletic, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc., held that “a feature incorporated into the design of a useful article is...more
3/29/2017
/ Cheerleaders ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyrightable Subject Matter ,
Fashion Design ,
Graphic Designs ,
SCOTUS ,
Separability ,
Star Athletica v Varsity Brands ,
The Copyright Act ,
Uniforms
On February 1, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and iSpring Water Systems, LLC (“iSpring”) reached a settlement regarding its false, misleading, and unsupported claims that its water filtration systems and parts are...more
In its opinion in In re California Naturel, Inc., the Federal Trade Commission held that the California Naturel, Inc. advertising promoting its “all natural” sunscreen on its website as containing “only the purest, most...more
In August 2015, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held in Varsity Brands, Inc.. v. Star Athletica, LLC, 799 F.3d 468 (6th Cir. 2015), that the stripes, chevrons and other visual elements that appear on a...more
Topics covered will include:
Accommodating Disabilities in The Retail Work Environment:
A discussion of recent developments under the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act impacting...more
As we previously reported last year, native advertisements represent an increasingly popular and effective means of promotion for marketers that also presents a major challenge for the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), an...more
Social media allows users to effortlessly communicate globally with nothing more than a few keystrokes. Advertisers have harnessed the power of social media bloggers and incorporated it as a key component of their...more
Consumers frequently reveal personal information about themselves through a variety of daily online and offline activities. For fashion designers and retailers, this consumer information represents a valuable tool to...more
Since early 2014, the Federal Trade Commission has charged at least fourteen U.S. businesses in varying industries, from fashion to telecommunications, for falsely claiming to participate in the US – EU Safe Harbor privacy....more