The line between employee and brand ambassador has never been blurrier. Across every retail and consumer products sector, brands are discovering that their own employees, people with genuine enthusiasm for the products they sell and authentic-feeling social media...
Content By Kyle D. Stroup
FTC Consumer Review Rule Enforcement: What Businesses Need to Know
For years, brands have leaned on consumer reviews as a cornerstone of their online sales strategy. Ratings drive clicks, reviews drive conversions, and social proof drives trust. But that ecosystem depends on something fragile: honesty. The Federal Trade Commission...
Gray Market Goods & Trademark Infringement: Why the ITC Is a Faster Remedy
Most brand owners are well acquainted with the threat of counterfeits—unauthorized products bearing fake versions of their marks. The legal and strategic response to counterfeiting is relatively well understood: register trademarks, monitor online marketplaces, file...
When AI Goes Shopping Without Permission: What Amazon v. Perplexity Means for Ecommerce Brands
Artificial intelligence is no longer just a tool consumers and businesses use to draft emails or generate images. A new generation of AI systems, known as agentic AI, can take autonomous actions on a user's behalf: browsing the web, placing orders, navigating...
The Backstreet Boys Are Trademarking Their Voices: What It Means for AI & the Law
The Backstreet Boys have sold more than 150 million records and spent three decades as one of the most recognizable acts in popular music. Now they are trying to do something that has never been done quite this way before: trademark the sound of their own voices....
Amazon Brand Registry Abuse: What Sellers Need to Know
For brands selling on Amazon, Brand Registry has become an essential line of defense. Enrollment provides access to enhanced IP enforcement tools, the ability to report violations directly, and Amazon's proactive monitoring technology. In 2025, Amazon reported that...
After the Supreme Court’s IEEPA Decision: What Importers Should Be Thinking About
On February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision addressing the President’s authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose broad tariffs. In holding that IEEPA does not authorize the sweeping tariff measures at issue, the...
TaylorMade vs. Callaway: When Marketing Crosses the Boundary
On January 15, 2026, TaylorMade Golf Company filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against Topgolf Callaway Brands Corporation. The claims center on false advertising, unfair competition and trade libel, alleging...
Consumer Review Protections May Create Legal Risk for Businesses
Businesses can face penalties even for well-intentioned contract terms. As consumer review protections expand nationwide, even well-intentioned and passive contractual language can unknowingly land businesses on the wrong side of a lawsuit. Nearly a decade ago,...
TikTok Shop’s First Major Review War? New Legal Considerations for Brands and Influencers
On January 16, 2026, Shenzhen Zhihuida Technology Co., Ltd. — the Chinese manufacturer behind the popular Meowant self‑cleaning litter box — and its U.S. distributor Gaosto Ltd. filed a federal lawsuit against rival PetPivot Inc. and several TikTok creators in the...