Category: 9th Circuit

  • ANA Files Amicus Brief in San Francisco Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Warning Litigation

    The Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA) has filed an amicus brief in a case challenging San Francisco’s health code provisions requiring advertisements on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) to notify the public of alleged health risks associated with SSB consumption. Am. Beverage Ass’n v. City of San Francisco, No. 15-3415 (N.D. Cal., San Francisco Div., amicus…

  • Costco Shrimp Case Dismissed for Lack of Standing

    A California federal court has dismissed a lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp. alleging the company’s shrimp was falsely advertised as adherent to a supplier code of conduct on human rights while the product was allegedly obtained through the use of slave labor. Sud v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 15-3783 (N.D. Cal., order entered January 15,…

  • Government Intervention Pauses Tuna Price-Fixing Lawsuit

    The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has intervened in an ongoing series of lawsuits against Tri-Union Seafoods, StarKist and Bumble Bee Foods alleging the companies conspired to set prices for tuna in the United States. In re Packaged Seafood Prods. Antitrust Litig., 15-2670 (S.D. Cal., order entered January 20, 2015). A California federal court granted…

  • SCOTUS Decides Class-Action Settlement Offer Issue

    The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a class action can continue after the defendant offers the lead plaintiff everything requested and the plaintiff rejects the offer. Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Jose Gomez, No. 14-857 (U.S., order entered January 20, 2016). The claim at issue stemmed from an alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act…

  • Potato Trademark Dispute Centers on “Buttery Homestyle” Name

    Idahoan Foods LLC has filed a lawsuit against Basic American Inc. alleging the company’s line of potato products marketed under the name “Buttery Home-Style” infringes on Idahoan’s rights to “Buttery Homestyle,” its brand of potato products. Idahoan Foods LLC v. Basic Am. Inc., No. 16-0005 (D. Idaho, filed January 6, 2016). Idahoan’s trademark application to…

  • Olive Oil Class Voluntarily Dismisses “Extra Virgin” Claims to Pursue “Made in Italy” False Ad Allegations

    A California federal court has allowed plaintiffs in a false advertising putative class action to dismiss their claims of fraud based on the “extra virgin” quality of Filippo Berio olive oil in favor of pursuing their allegations that the products are falsely labeled as “made in Italy.” Kumar v. Salov N. Am. Corp., No. 14-2411…

  • “Made in USA” Lawsuits Filed Against Rockstar, Heinz

    A plaintiff has filed two similar lawsuits against H.J. Heinz Co. and Rockstar, Inc. alleging the companies’ products wrongfully bear “Made in the USA” label claims because they contain “foreign ingredients.” Alaei v. Rockstar, Inc., No. 15-2959 (S.D. Cal., filed December 31, 2015); Alaei v. H.J. Heinz Co., No. 15-2961 (S.D. Cal., filed December 31,…

  • PCRM Sues Federal Agencies Seeking to Maintain Existing Federal Cholesterol Intake Guidelines

    The nonprofit advocacy group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking to prevent the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) from adopting a recommendation of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). The DGAC is a…