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Brian McCalmon is a Litigation shareholder in Vedder Price’s Washington, DC office, focusing on Antitrust and Consumer Protection. His antitrust practice focuses on conduct and merger investigations and cases brought by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general. He also represents companies in investigations of marketing, advertising, and privacy practices before the FTC and other consumer protection agencies.

On April 13, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sent a Notice of Penalty Offenses to approximately 670 companies detailing conduct that the FTC claims violates the prohibition on unfair or deceptive trade practices set forth in Section 5 of the FTC Act.  The noticed offenses include failure to adequately substantiate claims made in marketing and advertising about products, particularly health benefit claims and claims of efficacy.  All product claims must be supported by competent and reliable evidence as of the time of the claim.  Claims of health or safety benefits, or that the product is effective in the cure, mitigation, or treatment of serious disease, must satisfy much higher evidentiary standards.

Continue Reading FTC Issues New Notice of Penalty Offenses Concerning Substantiation of Product Claims

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On March 10, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) issued a Request for Information (“RFI”) to learn more about “the means by which franchisors exert control over franchisees and their workers.”  The RFI focuses on two aspects of the franchisor-franchisee relationship:  the means by which the franchisors disclose restrictions and requirements on their franchisees (e.g.