Law Office of Kelly Weiner PLLC

NYC-based Trademark and Intellectual Law Office

endorsements

endorsements

Your Product Does What?!

By Kelly Weiner
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it has sent refund checks totally $9.3 million to nearly 200,000 consumers who bought the “Ab Circle Pro” device.  The company claimed that exercising on the device for just three minutes a day would cause consumers to lose 10 pounds in two weeks. The day before, the FTC issued a press release about cactus juice marketers having to pay $3.5 million in refunds to consumers after making deceptive claims that the product treated diseases. What...

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Trademark Office Issues Decision to Cancel Registrations for REDSKINS Marks

By Kelly Weiner
After a long battle, the US Patent and Trademark Office has issued a decision to cancel trademark registrations used in connection with the Washington Redskins football franchise (Pro-Football, Inc., doing business as The Washington Redskins) that consist in whole or in part of the term REDSKINS. DECISION HERE.  The trademark office found that the registrations must be cancelled because they are disparaging to Native Americans.  The request to cancel the trademarks was made by five individuals back in August 2006. ...

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Endorsements – Your Responsibilities as a Business Owner

By Kelly Weiner
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has long enforced the principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. For example, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. And a paid endorsement, like any other advertisement, is considered deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims. A recent example of the FTC’s enforcement...

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Paid Endorsements in Social Media

By Kelly Weiner
Looking for a way to give your brand a bump? Paying for endorsements is not a new marketing tactic. However, the rising importance of social media in business marketing strategies, and the growing amount of social media “influencers,” has certainly made it a more popular and easily accessible one. Here are some issues to consider when negotiating the terms of your endorsement agreement: (1) Set a posting schedule. Don’t stop with setting minimums on posts (e.g., two tweets per day)....

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