The Advertising Law Blog provides commentary and news on developing legal issues in advertising, promotional marketing, Internet, and privacy law. This blog is sponsored by the Advertising, Marketing & Promotions group at Olshan. The practice is geared to servicing the needs of the advertising, promotional marketing, and digital industries with a commitment to providing personal, efficient and effective legal service.
Law360 has published an article authored by advertising partner Scott Shaffer entitled “Charter TCPA Ruling May Benefit Cos. Facing Robocall Claims.” In the article, Mr. Shaffer analyzes a recent ruling, Creasy v. Charter Communications Inc., which held that a significant portion of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is unenforceable for violations occurring between November 2015 and July 6, 2020.
Court reverses award of $448 million in ill-gotten gains
The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected a district court’s award of $448 million against a pharmaceutical company in a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In an antitrust case styled FTC v. AbbVie, Inc. (decided on September 30, 2020), the Third Circuit ruled that district courts lack the power to order disgorgement under the FTC Act. While the Third Circuit ruled in favor of the FTC on other issues in this case, the reversal of the disgorgement award the FTC is the focus of this blog entry.
Ruling could have broad implications on thousands of pending cases
A federal district court has ruled that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is unenforceable for violations occurring between November 2015 and July 6, 2020. The trial court in Creasy v. Charter Communications, in the Eastern District of Louisiana on September 28, 2020, dismissed all asserted TCPA violations alleged to have occurred before July 6, 2020 because a portion of the TCPA was unconstitutional until the Supreme Court “fixed” it on that date.