On June 20th, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) proposed a new rule which would require cable TV and broadcast satellite operators to provide complete transparency on their bills and get rid of any “hidden” fees that may appear after you’ve already committed to one cable company. It would instead require providers to aggregate the
Above the Fold
The Fox Rothschild Advertising, Trademark, & Copyright Blog
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The INFORM Consumers Act Takes Effect June 27, 2023
The Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act, also known as the INFORM Consumers Act, was passed by Congress in December of 2022 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.
On June 20, 2023, The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sent letters to 50 online marketplaces throughout the country,…
The Supreme Court Will Decide the “Trump Too Small” Trademark Case
If you missed reading about this case, buckle up! It has some fascinating twists and turns, along with the opportunity to brush up on the Lanham Act and see how the First Amendment’s freedom of speech clause is now at odds with the Lanham Act over a three word phrase.
On Monday, June 5, 2023,…
SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Jack Daniel’s
A few months back, I wrote about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to engage in some “whiskey business.” Now, after hearing Jack Daniels’s appeal, SCOTUS has ruled in favor of the whiskey brand by holding that trademark infringement is not precluded solely because the alleged infringement contains a comedic message. The Court found that VIP…
When Football & TMs Don’t Mix
Anyone who’s followed this blog knows that I’ve done a few (really more than a few) posts about the evolution of the Washington football team’s trademark battles. As a reminder, after ultimately winning its trademark fight to obtain the Redskins trademarks, the team retired the name and undertook a lengthy effort to select a new…
SCOTUS Holds Warhol’s “Prince Series” Is Not Fair Use
Last week, in a 7–2 decision authored by Justice Sotomayor, the Supreme Court ruled that a 1984 work by artist Andy Warhol, portraying world-renowned singer Prince against an orange background (the “Orange Prince series”), infringed on the copyrights held by rock photographer Lynn Goldsmith.
This high-profile case hinged on whether Warhol’s images of Prince meaningfully…
Rise in Fraud on TM Owners
The has been a rise in fraudulent schemes targeting trademark applicants and owners, which is not surprising given the record number of applications being submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). An alert drafted by two of our Fox Rothschild colleagues explains the most common schemes and how trademark owners can protect…
Another AI Post? You bet.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning companies to “Keep your AI claims in check.” An FTC Business Blog post states that consumers have been primed through generations of stories about inanimate objects coming to life to believe what marketers say about their products relative to artificial intelligence (AI), and that marketers should know that…
Federal Agencies Pledge to Fight Discrimination in AI
Four federal agencies have pledged to uphold the principles of fairness, equality, and justice in enforcement efforts against discrimination and bias in artificial intelligence (AI).
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Department of Justice (DOJ), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforce various federal laws to protect civil rights. These agencies…
FTC’s Newest Notice of Penalty Offenses
Last week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a press release stating that it “is putting hundreds of advertisers on notice that they should avoid deceiving consumers with advertisements that make product claims that cannot be backed up or substantiated” and that “it will not hesitate to use its authority to target violators with large…