Practice Areas & Industries: Winston & Strawn LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Winston & Strawn represents clients in trade regulation and unfair competition cases before the Federal Trade Commission primarily involving misleading advertising claims. We both defend our clients’ advertising and challenge their competitors’ advertising, and we have experience with claim substantiation and product deception. In addition, our attorneys regularly prepare comments directed to the FTC on behalf of our clients with regard to proposed trade regulation rules and other FTC policies.

Some examples of our work in this area include:

• Representation of Interstate Bakeries Corporation in the first case under the current administration (Bush II) brought by the FTC against a national advertiser. We negotiated a very modest consent decree and took other steps that helped to avoid the filing of a single class action against our client after word of the settlement became public.
• Representation of Cancer Treatment Centers of America in an FTC investigation involving complex issues regarding testimonials and endorsements for medical services. This matter was resolved through a consent decree.
• Representation of a leading manufacturer of designer faucets and other plumbing supplies in an FTC deceptive trade practices investigation. The FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection alleged that our client had deceptively labeled packaging in which faucets were sold as “Made in USA,” concluding that certain products had as much as 30 percent foreign content, well in excess of FTC guidelines. No claims were brought against our client.
• Representation of Gateway, Inc. in an FTC investigation into certain warranty practices.
• Representation of The NutraSweet Company in two separate FTC investigations regarding equal advertising claims. No action was brought against our client.
• Enlisting the FTC’s support on behalf of a client to take action against a company and individuals on consumer protection grounds.