On July 28th Polymer Group Inc. (PGI) a Charlotte, N.C.-based developer, producer and marketer of engineered materials, filed suit in U.S. District Court against the Kroger grocery chain, Inter-American Products Inc., and U.S. Nonwovens Corp. The suit alleges Kroger willfully infringed PGI’s patent related to hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics with raised patterns in selling its private-label [...]

While Procter & Gamble sales may be on hold in Russian for awhile, the legal department is not sitting idly by in the United States. Fed up with look alike products and retailer-supported brands that are eating into P&G brand goodwill, P&G fired the latest in a series of salvos. First, P&G reached an agreement [...]

According to the Moscow Times, personal care products and cosmetics manufactured or imported containing at least 1.5% alcohol are required to follow the Russian government’s new alcohol regulations, which went into effect July 1, 2006. The regulations are part of an effort to reduce alcohol consumption in Russia and require importers and retailers to register [...]

Nine lawsuits have been filed charging that popular sunscreen brands exaggerate their effectiveness. The lawsuits accuse sunscreen makers of exposing millions of people to cancer and other dangers through false and misleading claims about the effectiveness of their products. Some of the brands include Coppertone, Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Bullfrog and Neutrogena. One lawsuit, filed [...]

RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company will pay $5 million to resolve a state lawsuit charging the cigarette maker with illegally distributing free tobacco samples at public events. California sued the company for distributing more than 100,000 free packs of cigarettes at events held on public property. The attorney general charged this violated a state law prohibiting [...]

The names and credit-card numbers of 243,000 Hotels.com customers were on a laptop computer stolen from an employee of accounting firm Ernst & Young. The computer was stolen from a locked trunk of the Ernst & Young employee’s car in a parking lot in Texas. Although the theft appeared to be a random break in, [...]

According to news reports, Henry and Roma Gerbus took their computer to Best Buy in Springfield Township to have its hard drive replaced. Henry Gerbus stated that Best Buy assured him the computer’s old hard drive would be destroyed. A few months later Gerbus got a phone call from Ed, a man living in Chicago [...]

Two million messages, sent on behalf of Kodak Imaging Network, failed to include a valid-opt mechanism or a valid physical postal address. U.S. regulators at the Federal Trade Commission fined Kodak Imaging Network, the same amount it made from the proceeds of the offending spam campaign. The settlement between the FTC and Kodak Imaging Network [...]

PepsiCo Inc. and the Coca-Cola Co. have reached a settlement in a lawsuit involving a television advertising campaign for Coke’s Powerade option sports drink that PepsiCo called false and deceptive. In the commercial a Powerade-powered Amish dressed farmer riding a horse-drawn carriage “dusted” his equivalent in a drag race. The loser Amish farmer was depicted [...]

Federated Department Stores Inc. recently agreed to pay $725,000 in order to resolve an investigation into misleading advertising practices and phony sales promotions. The settlement covers close to 50 New York stores owned by Federated including Kaufmann’s, Macy’s and Filenes. The Kaufmann’s stores were specifically identified as engaging in activities such as using small print [...]

Eli Lilly & Co. has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. As part of the settlement, the drug company will pay a $36 Million fine. The charges stem from “off-label” promotion of its Evista osteoporosis treatment in 1998. Some Eli Lilly sales representatives allegedly were promoting [...]

First Act Inc. has won a $20.7 Million lawsuit against its musical instrument maker rival, Brook Mays, for materially deceiving customers and band directors using a false advertising campaign. Brook Mays Music Co. sent mailers to school band directors characterizing First Act’s inexpensive products as inferior, recommending immediate returns for refunds. When First Act filed [...]

Starbucks Corp. has lost a ruling in its ongoing legal battle to prevent a small New Hampshire coffee roaster from selling its “Charbucks” brand coffee beans. Judge Laura Swain of New York federal court ruled last month that consumers were unlikely to be confused between Starbucks and the “Charbucks” and “Mister Charbucks” coffee blends sold [...]