Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

Unrollme Inc. reached a settlement with the FTC over allegations that the company deceived some consumers about how it accesses and uses their personal emails.

The FTC filed a complaint in federal district court charging Qualcomm Inc. with using anticompetitive tactics to maintain its monopoly in the supply of a key semiconductor device used in cell phones and other consumer products.

The FTC will be mailing refund checks totaling more than $2.2 million to people who lost money to an alleged pyramid scheme operated by Vemma Nutrition Company.

In November 2017, the Federal Trade Commission charged a Georgia-based debt collection business with tricking people into paying money for debts they did not owe. A federal court temporarily halted the scheme and froze its assets at the FTC’s request. In September 2018, the operators settled the FTC’s claims and are now banned from the debt collection business and from buying or selling debt. The FTC mailed refund checks in September 2019 totaling more than $516,000 to 3,977 consumers as part of the settlement.

In February 2017, the FTC and the Maine AG’s office announced a complaint and three settlements with dietary supplement marketers who allegedly used radio infomercials deceptively formatted as talk shows and print ads featuring fictitious endorsers to advertise supplements purporting to improve memory and to reduce back and joint pain. The settlement orders resolving charges against the named in the complaint bar them from making similar deceptive claims, and prohibit them from engaging in a wide range of marketing practices that have caused serious financial injury to consumers. In April 2015, the FTC sent refunds to consumers who bought one of the company deceptively marketed supplements, CogniPrin. In August 2019, the FTC send refunds to consumers who bought FlexiPrin, another supplement the company sold.

The FTC is mailing 53,595 refund checks totaling $748,070 to consumers nationwide who signed up for an online auction kit that was supposed to be free, but wasn’t. The kit actually cost consumers up to $59.95 per month if they failed to cancel a trial membership in a business opportunity program called Online Supplier.

The Federal Trade Commission mailed 1,177 checks totaling more than $380,000 to people who paid for purported business coaching services that were marketed as a way to help them earn thousands of dollars a month.

The FTC is mailing 305 checks totaling $314,945 to consumers who paid up-front for worthless credit card interest rate reduction programs pitched by Payless Solutions using illegal robocalls.

The FTC is mailing 270 checks totaling nearly $515,000 to consumers who paid for what the agency alleged was deceptively advertised “amniotic stem cell therapy” between 2014 and 2017. The average amount each consumer will receive is $1,907.

The Federal Trade Commission mailed checks totaling nearly $1.1 million to 87,256 consumers who paid for work-at-home opportunities based on the allegedly deceptive advertising practices of Bob Robinson, LLC and other related defendants. The defendants operated under various brand names, including Work At Home EDU, Work At Home Program, Work At Home Ecademy, Work At Home University, Work At Home Revenue, and Work at Home Institute.

The FTC is mailing 3,483 checks totaling more than $1.95 million to consumers who bought the NutriMost Ultimate Fat Loss System between October 1, 2012 and August 9, 2016, in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. Each consumer will receive a refund of $560.54.

The FTC is mailing 1,244 checks to consumers who bought deceptively marketed credit card interest rate reduction services after being contacted via illegal robocalls. Affected consumers will receive full refunds, with most receiving $1,100 or more, within the next week.

The FTC is mailing 104,612 checks totaling nearly $3.5 million to people who bought weight-loss supplements marketed by Maine-based sellers Direct Alternatives and Original Organics, LLC. Affected consumers will receive their refund checks, which average $33.12, within the next week. The FTC and the Maine AG’s Office obtained the money in the settlement of two related cases against these sellers and a marketing company that created and disseminated advertisements for Direct Alternative’s weight-loss products.

The FTC is mailing 227,995 checks totaling more than $6 million to consumers who purchased health products from three individuals and the 19 companies they controlled—collectively known as Tarr, Inc. Affected consumers will receive their refund checks, which average $26.57, soon.

The FTC filed a complaint in federal district court charging Shire ViroPharma Inc. with violating the antitrust laws by abusing government processes to delay generic competition to its branded prescription drug, Vancocin HCl Capsules. The complaint alleges that to maintain its monopoly, ViroPharma waged a campaign of serial, repetitive, and unsupported filings with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and courts to delay the FDA’s approval of generic Vancocin Capsules, and exclude competition. According to the FTC, ViroPharma submitted 43 filings with the FDA and filed three lawsuits against the FDA between 2006 and 2012. According to the FTC, ViroPharma knew that it was the FDA’s practice to refrain from approving any generic applications until it resolved any pending relevant citizen petition filings. Viropharma intended for its serial filings to delay the approval of generics, and thus competition and lower prices. The FTC seeks a court order permanently prohibiting ViroPharma from submitting repetitive and baseless filings with the FDA and the courts, and from similar and related conduct as well as any other necessary equitable relief, including restitution and disgorgement.

The FTC issued an administrative complaint charging that Wilhelmsen Maritime Services’ proposed $400 million acquisition of Drew Marine Group would violate the antitrust laws by significantly reducing competition in an important market for marine water treatment chemicals and services used by global fleets. Marine water treatment chemicals and services are used by tankers, container ships, bulk carriers, cruise ships, and military support vessels to maintain critical on-board equipment. The FTC alleges that if consummated, the merger would result in a company controlling at least 60 percent of the global marine water treatment chemical and service market, leaving only inferior alternatives for global fleets. The FTC also authorized staff to seek in federal court a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to prevent the parties from consummating the merger, and to maintain the status quo pending the administrative proceeding.

The FTC authorized legal action to block the merger of the two largest daily fantasy sports sites, DraftKings and FanDuel, alleging that the combined firm would control more than 90 percent of the U.S. market for paid daily fantasy sports contests. The FTC, jointly with the Offices of the Attorneys General in the State of California and the District of Columbia, filed a complaint in federal district court seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the deal and to maintain the status quo pending an administrative trial. The Commission also issued an administrative complaint alleging that the proposed merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act by creating a single provider with by far the largest share of the market for paid daily fantasy sports contests in the United States.

On July 13, 2017, the parties abandoned the transaction, and the Commission dismissed the administrative complaint.