September 2018

NY AG Reins in WeWork’s Non-Compete Agreements

September 27, 2018 The Attorney General for the State of New York (“NY AG”) recently announced a settlement with WeWork Companies, Inc. that will revamp WeWork’s use of employee non-compete agreements.  The announcement comes amid wide-ranging legal challenges to various labor practices employed by the shared-office space company, one of New York’s largest private office […]

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FTC Obtains Sweepstakes Sponsor Asset Freeze

September 20, 2018 In February of this year, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Missouri State officials brought charges against a network of Kansas City area businesses (“Defendants”) which allegedly had used deceptive sweepstakes and other prize mailers to bilk consumers out of more than $100 million. The complaint alleges that Defendants sent prize notices

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TCPA Consent – A Cautionary Tale

September 18, 2018 On September 5, 2018, the United States District Court for Colorado granted a motion permitting All Web Leads, Inc. (“All Web”) to intervene in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action lawsuit filed by Plaintiff Jennifer Turner (“Turner”) against Defendant Efinancial, LLC (“Efinancial”). In her TCPA case, Turner alleges that Efinancial

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TCPA Lawsuit “Hits” the Diamond

September 17, 2018 On September 11, 2018, Chad Fernandez (“Plaintiff”) “hit” Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Ltd. (“Tampa Bay Rays”) with a putative Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action lawsuit in Florida federal court.  In his TCPA lawsuit, Plaintiff alleges that the Tampa Bay Rays sent four unsolicited text messages to his cellular telephone using

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Business Coaching Scheme Sunk by Deceptive Marketing

September 13, 2018  On January 29, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a complaint against Digital Altitude LLC, et al. (“Digital Altitude”), for misrepresentations regarding potential earnings and the goods and services it provided. Earlier this month, one of the defendants, Sean Brown, agreed to settle with the FTC. On its face, the business

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SEC Settles Lawsuits Against Nevada Sports Betting Funds

September 12, 2018 The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently settled two lawsuits against sports betting funds which the agency accused of violating the Securities Act.  The settlement culminates a nearly two-year investigation, and the first known prosecution of a sports betting fund since Nevada legalized such pooled wagering. What were the nature of the

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Who “Asked” for a Trademark Dispute?

September 11, 2018 Two weeks ago, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) denied a petition for cancellation in a trademark dispute involving the company formerly known as Ask Jeeves, refusing to cancel the trademark application of a smaller company that applied to register “ASKBOT” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). The

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