In terms of its advertising industry, France stands out from the rest of the world. This is due to the particular constraints imposed by French media buying law (commonly referred to as “Loi Sapin”). Pursuant to this law, advertising agencies may only act as an agent of the client when purchasing “advertising space” from media … Continue Reading
From 1 July 2017, non-broadcast adverts for high fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) foods aimed at children will be banned in the UK. The ban is a response to concern about the escalating problem of childhood obesity. Current estimates are that a third of children in the UK are obese. The ban will be introduced … Continue Reading
Cases on trade mark infringement in the context of keyword advertising are rare. However, the UK High Court recently handed down a ruling on exactly that topic – in Victoria Plum Limited v Victorian Plumbing Limited. The decision is the first time a court has considered the ‘honest concurrent use’ defence to trade mark infringement … Continue Reading
Many consumers are quick to skip or block digital ads when browsing through content on the Internet, including in social media. As a result, advertisers must continuously work to come up with creative ways to grab the attention of ad-avoiding consumers in order to deliver their advertising message. One popular method of online advertising that … Continue Reading
In Quesada v. Herb Thyme Farms, Inc., a unanimous California Supreme Court held that a California putative consumer class can assert state law claims arising from the purportedly false “organic” labeling of produce. In so doing, the court reversed a decision stating that such claims are preempted by federal law addressing the use of “organic” … Continue Reading
As a result of expanding technology, companies are faced with increasingly more choices when deciding how to spend their advertising dollars to promote their products. Some companies choose traditional methods, such as print, radio or television ads. Others use digital advertising, such as Google AdWords or placing ads on popular social media sites. Still others may try more non-traditional methods, … Continue Reading
The Consumer Rights Act 2015, which represents a substantial consolidation and update to consumer contract law in the UK, came into force this month. All brands should be aware of the impact of the changes, particularly in view of the increased rights and remedies for consumers in the form of implied terms and, for the … Continue Reading
When a celebrity does a good deed or a sports figure achieves a major accomplishment, companies may feel like sending a public “shout out” to that individual – whether it be through a tweet, a Facebook post, or some other media. However, companies need to be very careful that such a reference to the public … Continue Reading
The UK High Court has handed down a ruling which could give businesses greater freedom to undertake comparative advertising. Comparative advertising is where a business makes a direct comparison between its product and a competitor’s equivalent product in an advert or other marketing communication. Background The ruling relates to a dispute between two of the … Continue Reading
We reported in the past on the right of publicity in the context of tweeting or posting in social media about celebrities without their permission. As we are approaching Halloween, we thought it might be an opportune time to continue this series and report on the postmortem right of publicity for the deceased. Most companies … Continue Reading
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) is the federal agency that is charged with enforcing laws to protect consumers against fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices. We recently reported on actions taken by the FTC to protect children’s online personal information, as well as “Operation Full Disclosure,” which is an effort by the … Continue Reading
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) is the federal agency charged with enforcing various consumer protection laws, including the prohibition on “unfair or deceptive acts or practices.” We recently reported on the FTC’s crackdown on companies that allegedly collected personal information from children under the age of 13 in violation of the Children’s Online … Continue Reading
UK consumer protection laws change again today (1 October). The Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (the “Regulations”) come into force. They give consumers a new direct right of redress against traders who commit certain breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUT). This development shifts the balance of power in favour of … Continue Reading
The Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) proposes to amend the ‘pester power’ provision in Rule 5.9 of the BCAP Code. The proposed change will represent a small but significant relaxation in the UK’s advertising regulatory regime. The current Rule 5.9 prohibits advertisements from “encouraging” children to buy a product or service or from asking their … Continue Reading
The Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion in POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co. (Dkt. No. 12-761) (June 12, 2014) highlights the key role of Lanham Act false advertising claims in protecting consumers from misleading advertising and labeling. Reasoning that competitors often are in a better position than regulators to identify false advertising and other unfair competition, … Continue Reading
With 255 million monthly active Twitter users and more than 1 billion active Facebook users, social media platforms are powerful tools for companies to build relationships with their consumers and share information about their products. Although social media offers companies a wide variety of opportunities to engage consumers, such as through conducting online promotions or … Continue Reading
By way of follow up to our post of 22 November last year on the Unsolicited Telecommunications Bill 2013/14, the UK government has announced that the Bill will not progress any further. The Bill had been fully considered by the House of Lords and was due to progress into the House of Commons. However, the 2013/2014 session … Continue Reading
What is it? A new top-level domain name (TLD) permitting registration of (brand).LONDON, with priority given to London businesses, organisations and individuals. Anyone with a presence or interest in London should consider seeking to register a .LONDON domain name. It is expected that domain names will be allocated by August or September 2014. Who is … Continue Reading
Running an international prize promotion is an increasingly popular way for brands to engage with their consumers. Given the obvious benefits of the Internet, brands and their advisors often seek to operate those promotions through third party social media platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, or on bespoke platforms. While there are many benefits … Continue Reading
Most companies by now have made their footprint in social media, including on leading platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. With 500 million Tweets being sent per day, companies need to get creative to come up with enough content to engage their consumers. One popular technique is to send Tweets that contain links to third-party content, along … Continue Reading
Our new quarterly publication – Hot Topics in Intellectual Property and Technology – highlights the most significant legal developments in the UK and Europe in the areas of intellectual property and technology, contract, data protection and privacy, trade secrets and advertising and media. Our Hot Topics briefing is intended to keep you abreast of key … Continue Reading
Following last week’s High Court ruling in the claim brought by Lush against Amazon, online retailers targeting the UK should review how they use brand names on their websites and as search engine keywords to generate sponsored adverts, or risk liability for trade mark infringement. The claim Lush, the well-known UK cosmetics company, owns a … Continue Reading
The UK Government has expressly recognised the call by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a change in UK law to enable it to issue fines against companies that make 100s rather than 1000s of nuisance calls (cold calls from companies trying to sell goods or services). The ICO is the UK’s regulator of … Continue Reading
Sweepstakes have traditionally been widely used by marketers in the U.S., as they can be good at generating publicity and driving consumers to a company’s product (think Publisher’s Clearing House). After all, who doesn’t love something for free? In this digital age, sweepstakes are becoming even more popular as companies can better reach their consumers through social … Continue Reading
