How hard is it to just cancel? If you have found yourself pondering this question in a heat of frustration after seeing unexpected charges on your card following your latest subscription service or free trial period, you’re not alone. The FTC hears you and is taking action. So, retailers and sellers, heed to the consumers’
The Supreme Court heard oral argument this week in not one, but two trademark cases with huge implications on commercial activity in the U.S. and abroad. The justices had a bit of fun—and even laughed at points when hypotheticals highlighted the absurdity of what consumers might encounter in today’s online marketplace—but at the end of
While it may seem obvious that a product not made in USA, cannot claim to be made in the USA, sometimes that simple notion gets lost in translation or forgotten as business gets booming. This month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized its order against a manufacturer of popular kitchen and home products (the “Company”)
Melissa Viviane Jefferson, better known by her stage name Lizzo, popularized the phrase 100% THAT BITCH in her hit song “Truth Hurts.” But are popular song lyrics able to function as a trademark for a line of clothing?
Lizzo thought so as her trademark holding company, Lizzo LLC, filed several applications for the phrase 100%
Utility patents are for functional inventions. Design patents protect the look of something functional, regardless of whether the functional aspects are new. Because of this, a popular use of design patents is to protect the outside of common consumer products. What’s more common than the written word?
Increasingly, companies are investing in designing unique and
The Super Bowl is one of the most highly anticipated events in the world of sports, attracting millions of fans, advertisers, and sponsors from around the globe. Because of this, Super Bowl advertisements are plentiful both before and during the game. However, keen observers may notice that, while some companies directly refer to the event
This post was originally published on Seyfarth’s International Dispute Resolution Blog.
On 16 November 2022, EU Regulation 2022/2065, better known as the Digital Services Act (“DSA”), came into force. The DSA is a key development in the use of online services in the European Union (“EU”), with an impact on online services as significant as the one which the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) had upon the collection, use, transfer, and storage of data originating in the EU on 25 May 2018.
The DSA sets out rules and obligations for digital services providers that act as intermediaries in their role of connecting consumers with goods, services, and content.
Its goal is to regulate and control the dissemination of illegal or harmful content online, provide more consumer protection in online marketplaces, and to introduce safeguards for internet users and users of digital services. It also introduces new obligations for major online platforms and search engines to prevent such platforms being abused.
The DSA applies to a wide range of providers of:
(a) Intermediary services offering network infrastructure such as internet access providers, domain name registrars, and other providers of what is described as ‘mere conduit’ or ‘caching’ services;
(b) Hosting services such as cloud and webhosting services;
(c) Online platforms bringing together sellers and consumers such as online marketplaces, app stores, collaborative economy platforms and social media platforms; and
(d) Very large online platforms and very large online search engines that are used to disseminate content and information.
The DSA applies in the EU, and to those providers outside the EU that offer their services in the EU. If a provider is not established in the EU, they will have to appoint a legal representative within the EU.
The DSA splits providers into tiers. The most heavily regulated tier covers Very Large Online Platforms (“VLOP”s) and Very Large Online Search Engines (“VLSE”s). The main criteria that will bring a provider under the scope of the DSA as a VLOP or VLSE is whether it operates a platform servicing more than 45 million monthly active end users located in the EU.
Advertisers took home a win on one of the latest consumer class actions to make you scratch you head and ask “REALly?” On August 4, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a putative class action against a major food manufacturer alleging that its popular frozen food was mislabeled. Specifically, the
On November 3, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a Complaint and Stipulated Order in federal court against an internet phone service provider to stop it from imposing junk fees and making it difficult for users to cancel their service. This action follows the FTC’s September publication of “Bringing Dark Patterns to Light,”
Seyfarth Shaw is a Law Master Sponsor for the 2022 ANA Masters of Advertising Law Conference, the biggest advertising, marketing, and promotion law conference in the nation. The conference will take place November 8 – 10 at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, FL. Seyfarth attorneys, Joe Orzano, Jeremy Schachter, Kristine Argentine, and Aaron Belzer