Monday, October 25, 2021 Bureau of Competition and FTC Operations The FTC issued a policy statement restoring its pre-1995 practice of requiring parties under a merger consent decree to obtain the Commission’s permission before pursuing additional acquisitions in that market. This “Prior Approval” policy is designed to protect consumers and deter “clearly anticompetitive” deals, per Holly Vedova, the Director of the Bureau of Competition. The FTC will consider a number of factors when deciding whether…

Monday, October 18, 2021 Deceptive or Misleading Conduct & Protecting Older Consumers The FTC issued its latest report to Congress on protecting older consumers, which highlights updated findings from the Commission’s fraud reports showing trends in how older adults report being affected by fraud with the most frequent type of fraud reported by older adults was online shopping scams. The report, Protecting Older Consumers, 2020-2021, also includes information on the FTC’s efforts to protect…

On October 26, 2021, Crowell & Moring attorneys Preetha Chakrabarti, Josh Pond, and Howard Michael will be presenting a webinar with special guest, Christina Mitropoulos from the American Apparel & Footwear Association. Combine the COVID-19 pandemic with the already exponential rise in e-commerce, and what do you get? Innovation? Sure. Imitation? Absolutely. With it harder than ever to touch and experience products before purchase during the pandemic, 2021 is poised to be the…

As the world continues to settle into its new normal regulators have so too. Recently, State Attorneys General (AGs) are increasingly focused on several specific enforcement priorities, including (1) price gouging; (2) privacy concerns; (3) antitrust litigation; and (4) harmful substances in products and environmental issues. Many of these priorities have gained prominence in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Price Gouging Price gouging enforcement was triggered in large part in March 2020 from the…

A new trend in false advertising lawsuits targets specific characterizing flavor claims on the labels of foods and beverages. For example, Frito-Lay was recently sued in California federal court alleging the company’s “Tostito’s Hint of Lime” tortilla chips falsely implies that natural lime is a primary flavoring ingredient and that consumers were misled by various misrepresentations of lime on the product packaging. Kellogg, Hershey, and Bimbo Bakeries were all sued because the “fudge” in their…

With COVID-driven litigation ongoing across the nation, close analysis of commercial lease language is now more important than ever as many questions remain unanswered. The first wave of commercial lease disputes dealt in large part with whether commercial tenants were required to pay rent while forced to close due to the pandemic and related governmental orders. Now, new disputes are arising based on the lingering impacts of the pandemic and certain key clauses like co-tenancy,…

On August 20, 2021, China’s national legislature passed the Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”), which will become effective on November 1, 2021. As China’s first comprehensive system for protecting personal information, the PIPL is an extension of the personal information and privacy rights enshrined in China’s Civil Code, and also a crucial element of a set of recent laws in China that seek to strengthen data security and privacy. Among other things, the PIPL sets…