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.
Olshan Intellectual Property/Brand Management and Protection partner Mary Grieco was quoted in a recent Law360 article (subscription required) entitled “Apple’s App Tracking Shift Seizes On ‘Spirit’ Of Privacy Laws.”
FTC can no longer go straight to court to recover monetary damages
The New Jersey Law Journal (subscription required) reported that Olshan partner Scott Shaffer achieved a full dismissal with prejudice of a Consumer Fraud Act class action suit on behalf of Pure Radiance, a distributor/manufacturer of wellness products. The suit was dismissed because the lawyer-plaintiff, Harold Hoffman, claimed that the purchased nutritional product did not perform as advertised. The lawyer-plaintiff asserted that the advertising for the consumer product made claims that were not substantiated by research, but in a first-of-its-kind state court decision, the court ruled that sort of claim is reserved for the attorney general, not a private plaintiff. The Court further ruled that the lawsuit failed to allege sufficient facts to state a claim under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. Scott Shaffer was quoted as saying that “the judge’s ruling is correct in assessing the Consumer Fraud Act, and on behalf of the client, I’m pleased with the ruling.”
Olshan Intellectual Property/Brand Management and Protection partner Mary Grieco was featured on IP Talk, the news blog of Inlex IP Expertise, a French industrial property law firm focusing on trademarks, domain names and data protection.
One billion spoofed calls touted short-term health insurance
Reckitt Benckiser agrees to pay $53 million to end class actions regarding dietary supplement pain relief claims.
Following the lead of California, Virginia is set to become the second U.S. state to enact comprehensive consumer privacy legislation. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is expected to sign the Consumer Data Protection Act (“CDPA”) into law, which will go into effect on January 1, 2023. As it may take businesses some time to make sure they are in compliance by the January 1, 2023 effective date, it is recommended that businesses review their current privacy practices and make any necessary changes.
Dark patterns, an increasingly popular ecommerce marketing technique, seek to encourage users to make a particular purchasing decision. They are also the subject of increasing regulatory scrutiny, including the FTC’s ABC Mouse enforcement action.
Andrew Lustigman, head of Olshan’s Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Practice Group, was interviewed on Round Table Group’s Engaging Experts podcast in an episode entitled “How to Effectively Deal With False Advertising Disputes.” The episode explores various options for responding to false advertising claims and examines the variety of directions a business can take regarding an advertising dispute. Topics include how lawsuits concerning false representations have been filed under the Lanham Act, the founding of the National Advertising Division (NAD), strategies in a well-constructed cease and desist letter, and more.