McDermott Will & Emery
Subscribe to McDermott Will & Emery's PostsRed Stripe Prevails in Alcohol Beverage Labeling Class Action
By McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 18, 2016
Posted In Advertising and Marketing
The latest merits decision in the ongoing false advertising/labeling class actions appears here. This case involves allegations that the labeling and marketing of Red Stripe Beer misleads consumers into thinking they are purchasing beer made in Jamaica from Jamaican ingredients. In fact, production of Red Stripe for the US market moved to the US in...
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Ruling Could Put Deceptive Labeling Cases on Hold
By Jennifer Aronoff and McDermott Will & Emery on Mar 24, 2016
Posted In Advertising and Marketing
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today placed on hold a consumer class action involving yogurt labels until the FDA issues final guidance on use of the terms at issue in the dispute—a decision that could ripple outward to the many other food and beverage cases alleging deceptive labeling. The plaintiffs in Kane...
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FDA Delays Enforcement of Restaurant Menu Labeling Rule
By McDermott Will & Emery, Christopher M. Lahiff and McDermott Will & Emery on Mar 14, 2016
Posted In Food Safety and FDA
This week, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) formally announced that the agency will delay enforcement of its final rule entitled “Food Labeling; Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments.” The statement marked the second time the agency...
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Ohio Court of Appeals Upholds a Successor Manufacturer’s Termination of a Distribution Franchise
By McDermott Will & Emery and McDermott Will & Emery on Mar 3, 2016
Posted In Distribution
The “successorship” provision of Ohio’s franchise law for alcohol beverages has spawned much litigation over the past two decades. Premium Beverage Supply, Ltd. v. TBK Production Works, Inc. represents the latest chapter of this saga, providing further clarity on several issues in the Ohio Alcoholic Beverage Franchise Act (Franchise Act). In Premium Beverage Supply, the...
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TTB Issues Ruling on Category Management under Federal Tied-House Statute
By McDermott Will & Emery on Feb 12, 2016
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, Trade Practices
Today the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) released TTB Ruling 2016-1 (Ruling), addressing category management practices. The Ruling seeks to clarify TTB’s position toward category management under the federal tied-house statute and regulations, which generally prohibit an alcohol beverage supplier or wholesaler from providing a “thing of value” to alcohol beverage retailers....
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Recent Revisions to Internal Revenue Code Affecting Alcohol Beverages
By McDermott Will & Emery on Feb 11, 2016
Posted In Alcohol Excise Taxes
In December 2015, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act). The PATH Act amends several provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC) administered by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Those amendments relate to alcohol excise tax due dates and bond...
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Ninth Circuit Opinion Calls into Question Constitutionality of California Tied-House Laws
By McDermott Will & Emery on Jan 8, 2016
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, Trade Practices
On January 7, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Retail Digital Network, LLC v. Appelsmith, overruling longstanding Ninth Circuit precedent concerning the legality of certain restrictions on alcohol beverage advertising under the First Amendment and opening the door to part of California’s tied-house scheme potentially being declared...
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TTB Publishes Projected Regulatory Agenda as Part of Government’s Unified Agenda
By McDermott Will & Emery on Jan 4, 2016
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, Import/Export, Non-Beverage Alcohol, TTB COLAs and Formulas
As it does twice per year, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) recently published its projected Regulatory Agenda as part of the federal government’s “Unified Agenda.” Links to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s portions of the Unified Agenda appear below. TTB’s latest contribution to the Unified Agenda lists six priority projects that...
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Product Recalls
By McDermott Will & Emery on Dec 31, 2015
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, Distribution, Food Safety and FDA, TTB COLAs and Formulas
Potential product recall situations rank among the most stressful that a producer can face. Things move fast and decisions must be made with less-than-perfect information. While no preparation will render such situations easy or routine, a producer can reduce the stress level and help navigate this “worst-case” scenario by understanding the process and taking certain...
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TTB Publishes List of Exempt Ingredients
By McDermott Will & Emery on Dec 18, 2015
Posted In TTB COLAs and Formulas
Yesterday, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) published Ruling 2015-1. It re-states and supersedes Ruling 2014-4, notably by adding more than 50 new ingredients that a brewer can use in beer without the need to obtain an approved formula (or a pre-import approval for imported beer) from TTB. With this new Ruling,...
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