New Developments in the World of Section 230
Podcast - Developments in FDA & DOJ Regulation and Enforcement of Manufacturer Communications
On July 21, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa issued a comprehensive preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of key provisions of Iowa Senate File 383 (the Act), a sweeping law aimed at...more
The US District Court for the Eastern District of California on May 2, 2025 granted summary judgment in favor of the California Chamber of Commerce, holding that Proposition 65 warning requirements for acrylamide in food...more
In an important decision under California’s Proposition 65, a federal court recently ruled that businesses cannot be required to provide a product warning under Proposition 65 where there is no scientific consensus on whether...more
On May 2, a federal district court in Sacramento permanently enjoined the Prop 65 warning for acrylamide in food, finding it to be unconstitutional. At issue in the case, California Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta (E.D. Cal. No....more
As summarized in detail here, President Trump’s recent executive order entitled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the “Order”) takes aim at non-compliant Diversity, Equity and Inclusion...more
The Fourth Circuit has found that a West Virginia state law restricting how attorneys can solicit clients in pharmaceutical and medical device cases does not violate the First Amendment. At the end of April, a three-judge...more
After becoming the first state to ban real estate “love letters,” Oregon’s novel law has been found to violate the First Amendment and enjoined from enforcement by a federal Court in Oregon. Total Real Estate Group v. Strode,...more
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana recently issued an opinion and order granting Turtle Island Foods’ Motion for Summary Judgment in a First Amendment challenge the food manufacturer brought against...more
Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act went into effect on January 1, 2021. The act creates significant compliance burdens for employers with even one employee in Colorado....more
On 29 March 2021 the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California entered a significant ruling temporarily halting the filing of new lawsuits by the California Attorney General and anyone else related...more
On February 25, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Kansas issued an opinion granting summary judgment in favor of CardX, LLC (CardX), and found unconstitutional “a Kansas law that prohibits sellers...more
This sixth edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19 litigation, sees us reporting on many of the same types of cases. Consumers continue to seek refunds for goods and services that have been disrupted by the...more
A number of states have issued executive orders or other emergency declarations to provide relief from certain debt collection practices in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Such measures include ceasing new wage attachments...more
We recently reported on Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's implementation of temporary regulations halting collection of debt from Massachusetts' consumers in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. With certain...more
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a District Court’s decision to strike down a state law that placed severe restrictions on alcohol advertising. For example, under the law, Joe’s Bar could run the ad, “Drink...more
First Amendment challenges to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) are in the midst of a revival. The TCPA makes it unlawful to call or text a cell phone using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or...more
Yesterday, Judge Otis Wright of the Central District of California ordered the Plaintiff in a TCPA class action to show cause why the case shouldn’t be stayed pending the outcome the First Amendment issues before the Ninth...more
The New York Court of Appeals has issued an opinion in Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman interpreting the state’s law that prohibits merchants from imposing a surcharge on credit card purchases (Section 518 of the...more
Now we’re talking! As I’ve written on multiple occasions, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) is the broadest restriction on constitutionally protected speech in our nation’s history. Worse still, the statute is...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled earlier this week that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) did not violate the First Amendment when it refused to run an...more
Two incredible things happened in 1992 for the NFL football team Washington Redskins. It won the Super Bowl and applied to register a trademark Washington Redskins. It has not been so lucky ever since. It has not won another...more
Federal Circuit Summaries - Before Dyk, Moore, and Stoll. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: The bar in § 2(a) of the Lanham Act against registering immoral or scandalous trademarks is an...more
• The Federal Circuit held that the “immoral or scandalous” clause of Lanham Act § 2(a), which prohibits registration of a trademark that “consists of or comprises immoral or scandalous matter,” is unconstitutional under the...more
The Asian American members of the band the Slants adopted that name to “reclaim” and “take ownership” of the derogatory term. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) refused to register a trademark application...more
Well, that happened! According to the Supreme Court’s opinion in Matal v. Tam, Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, which purports to prohibit the registration of marks that “disparage . . . persons,” is unconstitutional. ...more