Business ‘Coaching’ Marketers Agree to Settle FTC Charges

Most of the defendants in a massive business “coaching” scheme that allegedly took more than $100 million from consumers have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they misrepresented the earning potential of the coaching program they sold, misrepresented their goods and services, and failed to fully disclose and honor their refund policy, in […]

FTC Settlement Obtains Permanent Ban Against Abusive Debt Collection Operation

The remaining defendants in the Federal Trade Commission’s case against Rumson, Bolling & Associates have agreed to a settlement that permanently bans them from the debt collection business. Part of the FTC’s continuing efforts to curb illegal debt collection practices, the settlement resolves FTC allegations that three debt collection companies, their owner, David M. Hynes […]

Marketer of 9/11 Commemoratives to Settle FTC Charges

National Collector’s Mint Inc., which sold 9/11-related coins and collectibles, including an “exclusively authorized” commemorative honoring the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, has agreed to pay $750,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers, charged them for items they never ordered, and failed to properly mark its imitation items […]

FTC and New York and Florida Attorneys General Charge The Tax Club’s Telemarketing Scheme with Bilking Consumers Who Were Trying to Launch Home-Based Businesses

The Federal Trade Commission and the New York and Florida Attorneys General charged The Tax Club’s telemarketing operation with deceiving consumers who mistakenly believed its services would help their home-based business succeed.  The agencies seek to end the allegedly illegal practices as part of their continuing efforts to stop scams that target financially strapped consumers.  […]

FTC Study: In FY 2012, Branded Drug Firms Significantly Increased theUse of Potential Pay-for-Delay Settlements to Keep Generic Competitors off the Market

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, the number of potentially anticompetitive patent dispute settlements between branded and generic drug companies increased significantly compared with FY 2011, jumping from 28 to 40, according to a new Federal Trade Commission staff report.  The study also found that in nearly half of these settlements, branded firms may have used […]

FTC Commissioners Uphold Trial Judge Decision that POM Wonderful, LLC; Stewart and Lynda Resnick; Others Deceptively Advertised Pomegranate Products by Making Unsupported Health Claims

The Federal Trade Commission upheld an Administrative Law Judge’s decision that the marketers of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and POMx supplements deceptively advertised their products and did not have adequate support for claims that the products could treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction, and that they […]

Joshua D. Wright Begins Term at Federal Trade Commission

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz welcomed Joshua D. Wright as an FTC Commissioner at a swearing-in ceremony today.  President Obama named Wright, a Republican, to a term that ends on September 25, 2019.  He was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 1, 2013, and will replace J. Thomas Rosch, who served as […]

Marketers of Criminal Background Screening ReportsTo Settle FTC Charges They Violated Fair Credit Reporting Act

An enterprise that compiled and sold criminal record reports has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it operated as a consumer reporting agency without taking consumer protection measures required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  The FTC’s settlement order, which prohibits the respondents from future FCRA violations, resolves the agency’s first FCRA […]

FTC Announces Revised Thresholds for Clayton Act Antitrust Reviews for 2013

The Federal Trade Commission announced it has revised the thresholds that determine whether companies are required to notify federal antitrust authorities about a transaction under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act.  These filing thresholds are required to be adjusted annually to keep pace with the change in the level of the gross national product, unlike […]

FTC Seeks Public Comment on AEA Investors Application to Modify Order Related to Houghton International

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on an application by AEA Investors 2006 Fund L.P. to modify a 2010 final order related to the 2008 acquisition of D.A. Stuart GmbH by Houghton International Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of HHI Holding Corporation.  The FTC charged that the 2008 transaction was anticompetitive in the […]