Technology & Marketing Law Blog

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Also, there should not be a “use in commerce” when the advertiser (here, Troia) doesn’t actually offer any goods or services in the marketplace. As the court says later, “it seems unlikely that an Internet user who reads defendant’s advertisements would believe that they belong to or are endorsed by plaintiffs.”

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43(B)log

APRIL 25, 2022

25, 2022) I know it probably seems sometimes like I approve of every expansive use of false advertising law, but sometimes even I find an aggressive position to go too far. It is enough if a defendant provides “a necessary product or service, without which the false advertising would not be possible.”

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43(B)log

AUGUST 22, 2022

The statements were “commercial advertising meant to sell a product, and generally there ‘can be no constitutional objection to the suppression of commercial messages that do not accurately inform the public.’” The First Amendment has long coexisted with no-fault false advertising laws. The California Supreme Court reversed.

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43(B)log

OCTOBER 11, 2022

The parties used to have an ongoing business relationship in which both companies outsourced clients to each other and engaged in regular communications regarding their business operations. It also allegedly resumed promoting and advertising the domain name “logan-car-service.com” and re-routing visitors to its own website.

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False Advertising Advertising Advertising Copying 83

43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

2, 2021) Rex sued Zillow and the National Association of Realtors for antitrust and false advertising violations. Surprisingly, the antitrust claims survive, as do false advertising claims agains Zillow. Lanham Act claim: Was this commercial advertising or promotion? C21-312 TSZ, 2021 WL 3930694 (W.D.

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43(B)log

JANUARY 23, 2023

OSD’s signal-to-noise statement was literally false because it advertised its amplifier as having 115 decibels on numerous websites even though OSD said in other statements under penalty of perjury that the signal-to-noise ratio was 104 decibels, and it didn’t submit test results or objective evidence that it was 115.

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43(B)log

MARCH 9, 2022

A jury found that defendants had engaged in materially false or misleading advertising about the parties’ competing whale-watching-cruise business in violation of the Lanham Act, but the jury awarded $0 in actual damages. 7, 2022) Plaintiffs sued defendants for violating § 1125(a).

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43(B)log

APRIL 25, 2022

The plaintiffs alleged that the stamps themselves were “a powerful form of advertising because they allow the Brazilian plywood companies to market their products as conforming to an important American safety standard.” pictures of not-good plywood from case Plaintiffs alleged both direct and contributory false advertising.

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False Advertising Advertising Advertising Licensing 72

43(B)log

AUGUST 9, 2021

Similarly, “ordinary business transactions” can satisfy the substantial assistance element of an aiding and abetting claim “if the [defendant] actually knew those transactions were assisting the [principal] in committing a specific tort. They allegedly “directly run” ad campaigns for their clients, including Beyond Global.

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43(B)log

AUGUST 27, 2021

The stamps thus allegedly operate as powerful advertising, allowing Brazilian plywood companies to market their products as conforming to an important American safety standard. Google didn’t attest to anything about the locksmiths; it was like a building that rents space to business owners.

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

The claims are mostly the kind of trade secret/tortious interference claims you’d expect from this setup, and I won’t say much about them, but there is also a false advertising claim about alleged misrepresentations of distributors’ income with Melaleuca.

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

Roach, meanwhile, makes frequent use of the phrase “The Unstoppable Entrepreneur” and applied to register the phrase for “Business consultancy; Business marketing consulting services.” Entrepreneur’s desire to bring forth a claim for false advertising against a competitor in a similar market is not unusual behavior.”

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

6, 2020) From the deepest depths of backlog: Tocmail alleged that Microsoft’s deceptive promotions of its cyber-security service, Safe Links, constituted false advertising and contributory false advertising. Safe Links Ensures Hyperlinks in Documents are Harmless”: Also sufficiently alleged to be literally false.

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43(B)log

MARCH 7, 2024

Shkipin’s amended false advertising counterclaim fails again. None of HomeLight’s statements allegedly disparaged or even referred to Shkipin’s business. 5, 2024) Sometimes, courts are very generous to competitors in presuming Lanham Act standing—as with the recent Meta ruling —and sometimes they aren’t. Previous ruling.

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43(B)log

JANUARY 19, 2022

14, 2022) Once in a blue moon, a false advertising-based antitrust claim survives a motion to dismiss in a circuit that imposes a list of excessive requirements on such claims. Consumers and advertisers adequately alleged that Facebook has monopoly power in social network/social media (consumers) and social advertising markets.

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

Unsurprisingly, the trademark claims survive a motion to dismiss, but associated false advertising claims don’t. VFB alleged trademark infringement, and that the Vampiro Cocktail label’s claims that it is made from 100% agave and with grapefruit were false advertising that would tarnish and dilute VFB’s marks.

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IP Law 360

MARCH 28, 2023

A Florida medical spa has settled a federal lawsuit with Houston-based rapper 50 Cent over a photo he took with its owner that was later allegedly used on social media to promote the business' services without his authorization.

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False Advertising Social Media Advertising Advertising 73

43(B)log

JUNE 17, 2022

7, 2022) The court upheld a contempt finding based on an underlying false advertising claim. caused ExeGi to lose business.” The injunction didn’t define the term, but since it was based on a Lanham Act violation, “commercial advertising or promotion” was the proper guidepost. De Simone v. VSL Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,

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False Advertising Advertising Advertising Litigation 64

43(B)log

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

In fact, Chen alleged, approximately 25% of its products—including its most popular products—were excluded from the advertised sale. .: “xx% Off Your Purchase,” “xx% Off Your Order,” or “xx% Off One Item.” "See See what's new--and take 20% off your order!"

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43(B)log

OCTOBER 6, 2021

17, 2020) A lot of stuff here; I will ignore the non-false advertising related aspects of this mostly antitrust case. The court says the usual not-good things about false advertising’s relationship to antitrust, unfortunately: Deceptive speech usually doesn’t violate antitrust laws. 17-md-2785-DDC-TJJ (D.

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

This allegedly harmed Geomatrix’s business. A similar fate awaited other Michigan common-law business tort claims: business defamation/injurious falsehood, fraud/misrepresentation, and interference with prospective economic advantage. Standard 40 certification is not a “consumer” good or service.

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

AB allegedly began advertising for a similar product, claiming that its load bars have “30% more Holding Power than similar Disposable Load Bars,” allegedly an admitted reference to Logistick. AB argued that its ad never mentioned or referenced Logistick, so it couldn’t interfere with Logistick’s business. AB Airbags, Inc.,

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False Advertising Advertising Advertising Contracts 59

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

AUGUST 11, 2022

Rebecca Tushnet and I are pleased to announce the sixth edition of our casebook, Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases & Materials. We also have two online-only chapters on housing discrimination (Chapter 20) and political advertising (Chapter 21), both also freely downloadable. Chapter 2: What is an Advertisement?

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43(B)log

JUNE 30, 2022

28, 2022) The parties compete to provide online ordinations to individuals who wish to perform marriage ceremonies and accuse each other of misconduct in advertising. Lexmark , the court held, didn’t supersede the presumption of injury for false comparative advertising. C19-0301RAJ (W.D.

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

It has more than 400 commercial customers, including global enterprises such as Walmart, Comcast, Cisco, and eBay, and also does substantial business with government agencies, including US agencies. Summary judgment granted on state and federal false advertising claims. False designation of origin: Yep.

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False Advertising Advertising Advertising Licensing 64

43(B)log

AUGUST 20, 2021

Shingle Savers counterclaimed, alleging, among other things, false advertising under the Lanham Act and violation of the Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Lanham Act/ODTPA claims: First, the court declined to hold that Rule 9(b) applied to Lanham Act false advertising claims, which don’t require fraud.

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JD Supra Law

MARCH 27, 2023

One way to succeed in business is to build a better mousetrap. An alternative is to get a movie star or an All Black to make an ad telling the world that your mousetrap is totally awesome. By: Dentons

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False Advertising Advertising Advertising Business 52

43(B)log

OCTOBER 9, 2023

million consent judgment, which defendants touted in a press release and advertised on Zinus’s website even after the court vacated the stipulated judgment. Courts have generally harmonized the Lanham Act with the Patent Act by requiring bad faith before claims about patent infringement can constitute false advertising.

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False Advertising Patent Infringement Patent Advertising 104

43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 24, 2021

May 11, 2021) Facebook’s application of “Russia state-controlled media” label to a news page on Facebook was not commercial advertising or promotion. Mentioned here mostly to highlight the differences in pleading standards applied to trademark and false advertising claims.

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Advertising Advertising False Advertising Business 59

43(B)log

APRIL 26, 2023

24, 2023) “This case arises out of alleged misuse of copyrighted images, eventually leading to a dispute … that resulted in false business reviews, malicious e-mails, and mutual efforts to interfere with each other’s business.” The parties had other disputes, including accusing each other of posting false reviews of the other.

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Fair Use Advertising Advertising False Advertising 64

IP Law 360

APRIL 11, 2024

A North Carolina federal judge on Thursday temporarily froze the assets of a Chinese manufacturer of pool products and its American subsidiary after they were hit with a multimillion-dollar verdict for false advertising and unfair business practices, citing a concern they may move assets to try and duck payment.

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43(B)log

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Defendant Buczkowski is the owner and operator of Wealthy, allegedly a “leading entrepreneurship, finance, business, real-estate and self-improvement company.” Cornelia also has a YouTube channel with approximately 150,000 subscribers, publishing videos on investing, business, and fitness that have received over 13.8 million views.

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IP Law 360

APRIL 1, 2024

Attorneys from McCarter & English LLP and Womble Bond Dickinson LLP are seeking more than $4 million in fees following a multimillion-dollar verdict in a North Carolina false advertising and unfair business practices suit involving rival pool supply companies.

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43(B)log

JUNE 26, 2023

lawsuits against clubs for advertising them with images of models without those models’ consent. The relevant policy provides coverage for bodily injury, property injury, and advertising injury, subject to certain conditions and exclusions. Covered personal/advertising injury included d.

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Advertising Advertising False Advertising Intellectual Property 72

43(B)log

JUNE 26, 2023

WNI and AST sell directly to consumers, while Specialty is a wholesaler that sells to other businesses, including AST. Relevant background: more than 20 years ago, WNI purchased an enzyme blend in bulk from Specialty; it got sued for falsely advertising a product sourced from as containing enteric coated serrapeptase.

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43(B)log

JANUARY 3, 2024

I’m only going to discuss the false association/false advertising bits; as to the latter, state law provides more protection than federal because of the “commercial advertising or promotion” requirement for Lanham Act false advertising. The false association/coordinate state law claims survived.

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IP Law 360

MARCH 21, 2024

A swimming pool equipment manufacturer is looking to permanently ban a competitor from using deceptive marketing techniques on Amazon after a federal jury in North Carolina slapped the rival company with a nearly $15 million verdict for false advertising and unfair business practices.

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