4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law Certain third-party trademark uses can be deemed a "nominative fair use" that does not infringe another's trademark rights even in the absence of permission to use the other's mark. For example, "Our show will feature the GRAMMY AWARD® winning Continue Reading
The Playing Field Remains Unsettled for Daily Fantasy Sports
4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law After playing defense for most of 2016, the leaders of the daily fantasy sports (DFS) industry made an announcement they hope will allow them to move ahead on offense in 2017. However, mounting legal and regulatory costs might doom them before Continue Reading
Retail Practices Are In Vogue For Regulators, and Class Action Lawyers
4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state regulators, and plaintiffs' lawyers are focusing on retail and direct-to-consumer practices ranging from membership and subscription plans to discount pricing and other retail practices. For example, Continue Reading
Data Privacy and Security Laws Get Stronger, and Face New Challenges
4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law As data becomes more and more commoditized, domestic and international laws and regulatory actions continue to focus on privacy rights and data security. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued several reports, tools, and guidance in Continue Reading
Patent Troll Cases Unlikely To Drop Significantly
4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law The statistics are striking. "Patent trolls" (companies that do not create products or services based on their patents, but instead use patents to extort license fees) are continuing to file large numbers of patent infringement lawsuits, now Continue Reading
Native Advertising Faces Growing Regulatory Focus
4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law The continuing growth in native advertising is leading to increasing regulatory scrutiny into whether consumers can distinguish native advertisements from surrounding non-paid content, and whether disclosures are being used Continue Reading
Self-Regulation Meets Self-Mediation
4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law Revisions to the challenge and appeal process recently introduced by the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD) are making proceedings before the NAD considerably more efficient for challengers and Continue Reading
Regulators Address Consumer Trust, Choice and Safety In Digital Marketing
4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law Businesses and regulators are focusing on cross-device tracking, ad blocking technologies and ad fraud, with particular attention to consumer trust, choice and safety issues. The cross-device guidance issued by the Digital Advertising Continue Reading
Legal Marijuana’s Uncertain Path Forward
4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law Efforts to legalize marijuana took a major step forward in 2016, with four new states voting in November to legalize recreational marijuana use. It is now legal in eight states and the District of Columbia, covering almost one quarter of the Continue Reading
Influencer Campaigns See Increased Scrutiny
4th Edition: Trends in Marketing Communications Law Marketers and their agencies are seeing increased regulatory scrutiny of their influencer campaigns as the popularity of influencers continues to grow and influencer networks become a greater marketing force. The Federal Trade Commission Continue Reading