The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, 16 C.F.R. Part 464, is effective as of May 12, 2025. According to the FTC’s recent press release, the Rule “prohibits bait-and-switch pricing and other tactics used to hide total prices and mislead people about fees in the live-event ticketing and short-term lodging
Latest from Above the Fold
AI and Copyright: What a Recent Court Ruling Means for AI Creators and Intellectual Property Rights
In a significant decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently ruled that the Copyright Act of 1976 requires human authorship to register a work, affirming the district court’s denial of a copyright application for a AI generated picture.
This ruling has profound implications for anyone working with AI in creative
After Competitor’s Challenge, NAD Recommends DREO’s Discontinuance of Claims of Being the No. 1 Fan and Heater Brand
Lasko Products, LLC (“Lasko”) and the Hesung Innovation Corp./DREO Limited (“DREO”) are competitors, both specializing in the fan and heater market. Recently, Lasko filed a Fast-Track SWIFT challenge with the National Advertising Division (NAD). Fast-Track SWIFT is an expedited process by NAD for reviewing single-issue advertising cases. Lasko argued that DREO’s claims were misleading by
TTAB Practitioners Beware: TTAB Dismissals With Prejudice, but Without Judgment, Can Support a Claim Preclusion Defense
In a recent precedential cancellation decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) partially granted Respondent’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the parties’ stipulation that prior proceedings between them be dismissed “WITH PREJUDICE, with CONSENT of both parties, and without the entry of judgment against either party,” was sufficient to support a claim preclusion
The U.S. Supreme Court Unanimously Rules That Successful Trademark Plaintiffs Cannot Recover Profits from Named Defendants’ Affiliates Without Suing the Affiliates Themselves
On February 26, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously vacated a nearly $43 million award in a trademark dispute that raised the question of whether a defendant’s affiliates could be held liable for payment of a disgorged profits award even if they were not named as defendants in the case. In a decision authored by
The First U.S. AI Copyright “Fair Use” Ruling Favors Copyright Owners
Yesterday, in the first U.S. ruling on the closely scrutinized question of fair use in the AI-related copyright litigation context, U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bilbas, sitting in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware by designation from the Third Circuit, held that U.S. copyright law did not permit Thomson Reuters’s now-defunct former competitor,
Annual Super Bowl Post
My favorite blog post of the year—where I get to assess the best commercials, track the rise in ad costs, and challenge you to identify your favorite celebrity endorsement.
This year, demand for ad space was “robust” with some 30-second ad spots going for $8 million (up from around $7 million last year), according to
FTC’s Final Changes to COPPA Rule
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had finalized changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule to set new requirements around the collection, use, and disclosure of children’s personal information, including requirements that parents opt-in to third-party advertising before third-parties can share and monetize children’s data.
According to the FTC’s
FTC’s List of Key Accomplishments
Yesterday the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a 65-page report detailing what it views as its accomplishments over the last four years. In a press release summarizing the report, the FTC touts the following accomplishments specifically:
- “Putting Money Back in Americans’ Pocketbooks.” In this category, the FTC touts its rule banning junk fees and finalizing
New Year, New Public Domain Works: Copyright Public Domain Day 2025
Every year, the world celebrates the first of January as Public Domain Day, marking the release of copyrighted works into the public domain.
In 2024, we saw popular intellectual properties enter the public domain, including the film Steamboat Willie by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks which debuted the characters Mickey Mouse® and Minnie Mouse®, plus