Category Archives: Articles

June 10, 2013

A&P Pays $102,000 to Settle Allegations of Violating NY Sweepstakes Laws, A Few Thoughts on Canada

In an interesting recent contest / sweepstakes case, A&P has reportedly agreed to settle charges alleging that it violated New York State sweepstakes laws by failing to adequately inform consumers that no purchase was required to enter its “A&P Frozen Food Month 2013” sweepstakes (for … Read the rest of this entry »

June 6, 2013

New Publications: Canadian Competition Law Review – Spring 2013

The Canadian Bar Association has published a new issue of its Canadian Competition Law Review (see: here). This new issue includes articles on “The Economic Consequences and Constitutionality of Administrative Monetary Penalties for Abuse of Dominance” (G. Bishop), “The 2012 Abuse of Dominance Guidelines: An … Read the rest of this entry »

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 »