After a slower start in August, the FTC has been busy with actions taken to protect everyday consumers who have been the victims of organized schemes intended to mislead them. The FTC also announced the appointment of a new Director of the Bureau of Competition This and more, after the jump.
New considerations have emerged for advertisers who publish reviews or endorsements. On June 29, 2023, the FTC finalized its updated Endorsement Guides, which provide insights to businesses on how the use of reviews and endorsements might be considered unfair or deceptive in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. Over the past several months, the FTC sought public comments on proposed updates to the Endorsement Guides to accurately reflect the modern landscape of advertising, which includes reliance on social media and content creators.
Continue Reading Reviews and Endorsements Say What? FTC Finalizes Updates to Endorsement Guidelines
Valentine’s Day at the FTC was marked by the Commission’s breakup with one of its longtime Commissioners, who abruptly announced her retirement in a splashy op-ed that garnered significant media attention. The agency also announced a new Office of Technology and proposed consent orders related to “review hijacking” and robocalls. These stories and more after the jump.
Continue Reading FTC Updates (February 6 – February 17, 2023)
The FTC has continued its strong start to the new year with enforcement actions related to false advertising in the healthcare industry and misleading conduct in the “gig” economy as well as revising the merger reporting thresholds and filing fees. These stories and more after the jump.
Continue Reading FTC Updates (January 16 – January 27, 2023)
The FTC started the new year with a proposed new rule that would ban employers from imposing non-competes on their workers. It also announced increases to civil penalties connected to various federal provisions. These stories after the jump.
The FTC has not been quiet during the holidays. The agency is primarily tied up with its litigation against Meta, but it has also taken action in other industries, including finance and health products. These stories and more after the jump.
Continue Reading FTC Updates (December 19 – December 30, 2022)
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) recently announced that it has adjusted the maximum civil penalty dollar amounts for violations of 16 provisions that the Commission enforces. The increase is required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, and is intended to account for inflation. The act directs agencies to implement annual inflation adjustments based on a prescribed formula. Given the uptick in FTC enforcement actions, companies are likely to begin feeling the impact of the increased penalties in the coming year.
As our readers likely recall, the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling in AMG Capital Management LLC v. Federal Trade Commission removed a powerful tool that the FTC had previously relied on to pursue monetary relief in federal court. The Supreme Court unanimously held that the Federal Trade Commission cannot obtain equitable monetary relief, such as disgorgement or restitution, when it pursues district court litigation directly under Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act” or “Act”). Rather, to obtain such relief, the FTC must first follow its administrative adjudication procedures under Section 5 of the Act.
Continue Reading How Much Could Violating a FTC Rule Cost You? $50,120 Per Violation?
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a sweeping new rule that would ban employers from including non-compete terms in employment agreements with virtually all of their workers – from janitors to senior executives. Describing such agreements as an “exploitative practice that suppresses wages, hampers innovation, and blocks entrepreneurs from starting new businesses,” the FTC’s rule deems non-compete agreements to be an “unfair method of competition” under Section 5 of the FTC Act, without regard for any business justifications or reasonableness. Potential rulemaking against non-compete clauses has been percolating for some time and has support from the White House, but the breadth of the proposed rule is nonetheless surprising.
The FTC’s push for this rule under its Section 5 authority surely will spark legal—including constitutional—challenges that could delay implementation of any final rule for months, if not years. Companies need not immediately start rescinding or avoiding reasonably tailored non-compete agreements with employees, but should take note that the FTC is not likely to sit on the sidelines and wait for a final rule to come into effect before taking further action against some employers based on the scope of their non-compete agreements. The proposed rulemaking and the FTC’s recent enforcement actions targeting specific companies’ use of non-compete provisions as violations of Section 5 reflect the FTC’s and DOJ’s aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement in the labor markets – including the FTC’s desire to bring enforcement actions in this area even before any final rule goes into effect.
Continue Reading FTC Proposes Rule to Categorically Ban Non-Compete Agreements
The FTC kicked off the holiday season analyzing data on fraudulent online shopping, cryptocurrency, and employment advertisements that are popular on social media. The Commission also announced updates to the Eyeglass Rule while also announcing the public comment period for potential updates to the Green Guides. These stories and more after the jump.
Continue Reading FTC Updates (December 5 – December 16, 2022)
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced it is seeking public comment on potentially updating, expanding, and/or altering the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, known as the Green Guides (16 CFR pt 260). Yesterday, December 14, 2022, the FTC held an open Commission meeting where the Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the publication of a Federal Register notice announcing a public comment period. The notice is expected to be published in mid-January. Once the notice is published in the Federal Register, comments will be due within sixty days.
The FTC’s Green Guides are designed to help advertisers avoid making environmental claims that may mislead consumers. 77 Fed. Reg. 62122 (Oct. 11, 2012). The Green Guides discourage unqualified environmental benefit claims, nothing that they are difficult, if not impossible, to substantiate. The Green Guides were first issued in 1992 and last updated in 2012. An update to the Green Guides has been expected and desired by many as the Green Guides help businesses to make accurate environmental marketing claims and, if followed, help businesses ward off allegations of deceptive advertising claims.
Continue Reading FTC Seeks Public Comments on the Green Guides