Category Archives: Articles

May 6, 2013

“Babies Can Read” is Back – A Curious Advertising Tale on a Monday Afternoon

Advertising can be funny sometimes, or odd, or a bit like faith or all of these.   Let me explain what I’m talking about.  A few months ago, in perhaps one of the strangest advertising law tales I’ve seen in awhile (or ever), I wrote about … Read the rest of this entry »

April 24, 2013

New Real Estate Council of BC Advertising Rules for Licensees

Yesterday, the British Columbia Real Estate Council issued its new Report from Council Newsletter, which includes a summary of the new and updated advertising requirements for British Columbia real estate licensees (see: here).  The Council’s new newsletter states: “Each month, the Real Estate Council receives … Read the rest of this entry »

April 12, 2013

New U.S. FTC Report With Competition and Advertising Highlights For the Past Year, Parallels to Competition Bureau Enforcement and Priorities

Earlier today, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission released 2013 Annual Highlights setting out its priorities over the past year, which generally include promoting online privacy and data security, fostering competition in high-tech industries and healthcare and protecting children and other vulnerable consumers from fraud. In … Read the rest of this entry »

March 29, 2013

Sell a House, a Little Ice Fishing and Other Promotions – Creative Ways to Use Contests (and a Few Tips for Staying Out of Trouble)

CANADIAN CONTEST RULES/PRECEDENTS Do you need contest rules/precedents for a Canadian contest? We offer many types of Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents and forms (i.e., Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents to run common types of contests in Canada).  These include precedents for random draw contests (i.e., where … Read the rest of this entry »

March 19, 2013

U.S. FTC best practices for mobile advertisers and app developers – more U.S. activity and parallels Canadian enforcement priorities

Competition/antitrust enforcement agencies in both the U.S. and Canada have been increasing their focus on new media advertising/marketing practices, notably in the mobile space. In Canada, recent cases and initiatives include the ongoing challenge by the Competition Bureau of Bell/Rogers/Telus for allegedly misleading premium text … Read the rest of this entry »

March 12, 2013

Fraud: Competition Bureau Announces Top 2 “2 Good 2 B True Day” Scams: Highlights False Online Testimonials & Mobile “Subscription Traps”

Earlier today, as part of its Fraud Prevention Month efforts in March, the Competition Bureau announced its Top 2 on “2 Good 2 B True Day” scams: false online testimonials; and mobile “subscription traps”. With respect to false testimonials, the Bureau highlighted concerns with testimonials … Read the rest of this entry »

March 6, 2013

New Contest Rules Product – Canadian Contest Forms and Precedents to Run Random Draw and Skill Contests in Canada

In addition to our contest law services, we offer Canadian contest forms and precedents for sale, including for random draw and skill contests in Canada. These Canadian contest forms are intended to bridge the gap between legal advice and forms on the web, which may … Read the rest of this entry »

February 28, 2013

New Publications – CLE BC Annual Review of Law & Practice 2013 – Including our Competition Law Developments Chapter

The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia (CLE BC) has published its annual Review of Law & Practice – 2013, including my joint 2012 Competition Law Chapter (see: Annual Review of Law & Practice – 2013).  Overview (from CLE BC): “Discover the most efficient … Read the rest of this entry »