Skip to main content

FTC-FDA warning letters: Influential to influencers and marketers

Lesley Fair
The FTC and FDA just sent warning letters to four sellers of e-liquids, the nicotine-laced liquid used in vaping. But even if you don’t have clients in that industry, keep reading. The letters have a lot to say about social media marketing and influencers, regardless of the products they pitch. What kind of ads do the warning letters address? That’s where it gets interesting. The FDA and FTC sent the letters to companies whose flavored e-liquids...

Two on the aisle for FTC’s “That’s the Ticket” workshop

Lesley Fair
Humphrey Bogart said it in “The African Queen” and it was a catchphrase popularized by Jon Lovitz on “Saturday Night Live.” But to the FTC, That’s the Ticket is the name of a June 11, 2019, workshop to explore consumer protection issues related to online ticket sales – and the agenda is out now. Consumers who try to buy tickets online to a concert, theatrical performance, or sporting event have often expressed frustration with the process. That’s...

Consumer gag clauses: Totally not awesome under CRFA

Lesley Fair
Moon Unit Zappa’s 1982 song “Valley Girl” popularized the phrase “gag me with a spoon.” We doubt the lyric “gag me with a form contract clause” would have been a hit, but it’s among the tactics expressly outlawed by the Consumer Review Fairness Act. As two proposed settlements demonstrate, the FTC thinks gag clauses and similar non-disparagement provisions that violate the CRFA are – to quote Ms. Zappa – grody to the max. People using a popular...

Help prepare your workforce for a weather emergency

Lesley Fair
June 1st marks the start of hurricane season, but weather emergencies can happen anytime. The FTC encourages businesses to have a plan in place to safeguard your facilities, products, and data. And we’ve just introduced new resources aimed at helping you protect your workforce. Like your business, your employees need to prepare for extreme conditions – a task best undertaken when skies are sunny. Helping them formulate a personal plan can save...

Then, now, and down the road: Trends in pharmaceutical patent settlements after FTC v. Actavis

Jamie Towey and Brad Albert, Bureau of Competition
Last week, Bureau of Competition staff published a report on filings received in fiscal year (FY) 2016 under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), the thirteenth such report since the MMA took effect in 2004. These reports identify the frequency of pharmaceutical patent settlements and specific types of provisions that appear in such settlements. Comparing the data in these reports with developments in...

FinTech finds a home in the FTC Business Center

Lesley Fair
The term “FinTech” covers a lot of topics central to the FTC’s consumer protection mission – lending, payment systems, data security, privacy, and truth in advertising, to name just a few. So where can businesses go for resources on how established consumer protection standards apply in this emerging marketplace? FinTech-related materials have a new home in the Business Center: a dedicated FinTech page. If FinTech matters to your company or your...

Extension mention: New deadline for Safeguards Rule comments

Lesley Fair
Racing to finish your comment about proposed changes to the Safeguards Rule by the impending deadline? You can take a breather because the FTC has extended the deadline by 60 days. The Safeguards Rule requires financial institutions to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive information security program. As part of its ongoing review of rules and guides, the FTC proposed changes to the Rule in March 2019 and asked for your feedback. At...

Joining the issues on the high road

Bruce Hoffman and Heather M. Johnson, Bureau of Competition
The great majority of attorneys appearing before the Commission share a sense of practicing at the height of our profession. They engage with Commission staff on pressing issues of fact, antitrust law and economic theory in matters of great importance to consumers and our economy. For a few, however, there may be perceived opportunities to seek an advantage in the debate through misrepresentation of key facts. For those few, we want to remind...

3 tips from 3 FTC Consumer Review Fairness Act cases

Lesley Fair
Their lines of work are as different as can be: an HVAC and electrical contractor, a flooring seller, and a company that takes people on horseback rides. But according to the FTC, they have one thing in common. They all violated the Consumer Review Fairness Act. Read on for details about the FTC’s first cases solely enforcing the CRFA, the form contract provisions the FTC says contravened the law, and tips for keeping your contracts CRFA...

Forum on small business financing: Watch the webcast now

Lesley Fair
It’s time to get up to speed and down to business. Strictly Business: An FTC Forum on Small Business Financing begins at 8:30 ET today, Wednesday, May 8th. Just in time for National Small Business Week, the half-day workshop will focus on the online marketplace for small business financing. You can watch the webcast from the link on the event page, which will go live minutes before Strictly Business starts.