On September 11, 2023, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted to adopt sweeping safety requirements, pursuant to Reese’s Law, for button cell and coin batteries and products containing these batteries or designed to…
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/ Administrative Law, Consumer Protection, Personal Injury, Products Liability
The Administrative Procedure Act (the “APA”) requires federal agencies to take specific steps when creating new rules and regulations. As a federal agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (the “CPSC”) must follow these…
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/ Consumer Protection, Products Liability
In early January, after referral by the CPSC to the Department of Justice (and probably the subject of an Acting Chair Adler public comment), fire extinguisher manufacturer Kidde reached a settlement with the government to pay…
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/ Consumer Protection, Products Liability
For years consumer product safety advocate groups have bemoaned the seeming lack of aggressiveness from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”). As an example, they complain that the CPSC levied no civil penalties on…
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/ Consumer Protection, Products Liability
There’s a new class action trend consumer product companies need to be aware of that is not only causing additional stress when faced with a recall but also increased expense and adverse publicity.
There are a number of…
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/ Consumer Protection, Products Liability
On September 25th, the CPSC Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released its long-awaited report summarizing its investigation of the 2019 CPSC data breach. Most notably, the report finds that the data breach was larger and went…
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/ Consumer Protection, Privacy
An interesting and potentially very important case not only in CPSC world but for thousands of statutes and regulations is pending in a federal court of appeals. On May 18th, a civil rights group filed its opening brief against…
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/ Administrative Law, Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Consumer Protection, Products Liability
The food industry has been upended by the recent COVID-19 pandemic – restaurants and bars are scrambling to adjust to a new way of life after governors across America issued statewide “stay at home” orders in response to the…
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/ Administrative Law, Consumer Protection, Health
In a coordinated effort, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a Unified Website for Biotechnology Regulation on January 9,…
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/ Agriculture, Consumer Protection, Environmental Law, Health, Science, Computers, & Technology
Section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act has for many years encouraged voluntary reporting and protected companies from disclosure of inaccurate or misleading information by requiring CPSC to take reasonable steps to…
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/ Commercial Law & Contracts, Communications & Media Law, Consumer Protection, Elections & Politics, Products Liability
The old joke of “what do Philosophy majors ask at their first job?” takes on a new meaning in the world of Prop 65.
On October 7, 2019, the California Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit in Federal court for the Eastern…
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/ Civil Remedies, Communications & Media Law, Constitutional Law, Consumer Protection, Environmental Law
In Fleetwood Mac’s magnum opus, “Landslide,” Stevie Nicks croons, “Well, I’ve been ‘fraid of changin’ ‘cause I’ve built my life around you.” The FTC’s recent workshop on Made in the USA claims reveals a similar hesitancy to…
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/ Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Commercial Law & Contracts, Communications & Media Law, Consumer Protection, International Law & Trade
I suspect that we’ve all had this experience. You’ve finished a long day of work, had dinner, and have cozied up on the couch with a glass of wine to watch a re-run of your favorite TV show. The show goes to commercial and all…
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/ Communications & Media Law, Consumer Protection, Products Liability
Late this afternoon it was confirmed that Commissioner Bob Adler was elected Vice-Chairman of the CPSC. Because there is no permanent CPSC Chairman at this time, Commissioner Adler will become the Acting Chairman of the agency…
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/ Administrative Law, Commercial Law & Contracts, Consumer Protection, Elections & Politics, Products Liability
In a press release this afternoon, Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle announced that she would be withdrawing her nomination to be the permanent Chairman of the CPSC, as well as her nomination for an additional 7 year term, which…
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/ Administrative Law, Consumer Protection, Elections & Politics, Products Liability