Articles

02.02.17

Supreme Court Considers New York's Surcharge Law

The Supreme Court of the United States recently heard an oral argument concerning New York's surcharge law, addressing whether the statute—which prohibits the imposition of surcharges on customers who pay with credit cards but permits discounts for those who pay in cash—constitutes ...


02.02.17

Seventh Circuit: Bank May Challenge CAMELS Rating

A bank may challenge the rating it received from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) under the CAMELS system, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit determined, because while the agency has discretion to set appropriate levels of capital for each institution, it does not ...


02.01.17

Q&A With TX Attorney General on Consumer Protection Priorities

In recent years, offices for state Attorneys General have been increasingly active in enforcing consumer protection issues. Given the array of interesting issues currently being explored in Texas, I spoke to Attorney General Ken Paxton on his office’s recent work surrounding consumer ...


01.27.17

SpongeBob SquarePants Eatery Gets TM Protection

The Krusty Krab, a fictional restaurant from the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon, deserves trademark protection, a federal court judge in Texas has ruled, holding that a proposed real-life eatery with the same name violates Viacom's trademark rights.The Krusty Krab is featured prominently in the ...


01.27.17

Arbitration Not Permitted for PAGA Claims

A California appellate court affirmed that arbitration is not permitted for Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims, affirming denial of an employer’s motion to compel arbitration. A warehouse employee filed a single-count action under PAGA against her employer, alleging multiple ...


01.27.17

D-Link's Alleged Security Failures Achieve FTC Lawsuit

In its latest enforcement action in the realm of the Internet of Things, the Federal Trade Commission filed suit against D-Link Corporation, a Taiwan-based computer networking equipment manufacturer and its U.S. subsidiary, alleging that the defendants failed to employ adequate security measures ...


01.27.17

Wage Statements Comply With State Law, Ninth Circuit Affirms

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in favor of Costco Wholesale Corporation in a suit brought by a former employee alleging the company’s wage statements violated California state law. Costco’s pay statements did not list her total hours worked and the separate ...


01.25.17

The Ripeness Hurdle in Takings Cases

"The general concept of ripeness should be no stranger to lawyers. After all, one should bring no case before its time. We are all accustomed to dealing with various statutes of limitation and repose. But takings cases are different. The U.S. Supreme Court has invented a special hurdle to keep ...


01.24.17

False Ad Suit Survives When Consumers "Swept Into" Purchase

A California Court of Appeal found that plaintiff consumers had raised triable issues of fact on whether they suffered damages in reliance on allegedly misleading advertising about the extent of a 40%-off sale, despite plaintiffs' knowledge—before going through with the ...


01.23.17

Top Legal Issues Facing Marketers in 2017

Numerous legal and regulatory challenges will vex marketers in 2017.Brexit and the U.S. presidential election aside, to say 2016 was one of the most tumultuous and unpredictable years in history was an understatement. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) doubled down on its enforcement of the ...