New Requirements for Subscription Merchants Accepting Visa Cards
Subscription merchants that take payment by Visa cards will have new acceptance, disclosure, and cancellation requirements imposed on their transactions beginning April 18, 2020. As Visa recently announced, the card brand is updating its rules for merchants that offer free trials or introductory offers as part of an ongoing subscription program.
We Got the Beet: Trademark Claims and Puns
In LTTB LLC v. Redbubble, Inc., online apparel company LTTB contended its success was "largely due to public fascination with its Lettuce Turnip the Beet trademark," and alleged that Redbubble's sale of products featuring the phrase "Lettuce Turnip the Beet" infringed its mark. Redbubble, an online marketplace selling products made by independent artists, argued that LTTB was not entitled to preclude others from using the "Lettuce Turnip the Beet" pun absent any evidence of source confusion.
A New Challenge for FDA?
Two Executive Orders Continue Trump Administration Efforts to Restrain Agency Policymaking
Last week, President Trump signed two executive orders designed to limit the ability of federal agencies to make and enforce policy through the use of guidance documents. While this may seem like a mere technical issue, the ramifications could be significant.
The FTC's Negative View of Negative Options – Are Expanded Regulations Coming?
The Federal Trade Commission's "Negative Option Rule" is up for review, and the FTC is steering toward stricter regulations for automatic renewal plans and subscription programs. The FTC completed its last regulatory review of the Negative Option Rule in 2014 and decided then to retain the rule in its current form. But will this time be different?
FTC's COPPA Rule Workshop: A Summary of Priorities from Advocates and Industry, and the FTC's Poker Face
The Federal Trade Commission recently held a workshop in Washington, DC to discuss possible updates to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA regulates the way entities collect data and personal information online from children under the age of 13. The Rule hasn't been updated since 2013, and the intervening years have produced seismic technological advances and changes in business practices, including changes to platforms and apps hosting third-party content and marketing targeting kids, the growth of smart technology and the "Internet of Things," educational technology, and more.