Do you know what your arbitration provisions say about arbitrability? If not, now is a good time to review them in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision this week in Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc. holding that, where parties have entered into an arbitration agreement, and that agreement clearly delegates to an arbitrator the question of which disputes must be arbitrated (i.e., questions of “arbitrability”), courts must enforce those terms and permit the arbitrator – not the judge – to determine whether the specific dispute in question will proceed in arbitration or in court.

The case was filed in Texas federal court by Archer and White (“Archer”) after its relationship with Henry Schein, Inc. (“Schein”) soured. Archer, a dental equipment distributor, entered into a contract with Pelton and Crane (“Pelton”) to distribute dental equipment manufactured by Pelton. Archer thereafter sued Pelton’s successor-in-interest and Schein alleging violations of federal and state antitrust laws, seeking both monetary damages and injunctive relief.Continue Reading SCOTUS Instructs Courts to Enforce Parties’ Agreements with Respect to Arbitrability

Readers of this blog often learn how the government regulates modern instruments for customer engagement – social media, texting campaigns, e-commerce sites, the use of influencers, and more. Old habits die hard, however, and many marketers continue to use the U.S. Postal Service to connect with consumers. When those mailers want to reach a large audience, Marketing Mail (formerly known as Standard Mail) may be the answer. Mailers use USPS Marketing Mail to deliver catalogues, circulars, flyers, advertising, and both printed and non-printed merchandise designed to enhance the tactile experience of opening the mail and create a positive association with the sender.
Continue Reading USPS Proposal May Cause Direct Mail Advertisers To ‘Go Postal’

We don’t like to toot our own horn in blog posts too often, but the arrival of Heather Capell Bramble in Venable’s Washington, DC office was a development we thought worthy of some tooting and something important to all of you as well.

Heather joins Venable from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), where she served as chief counsel and policy advisor to Commissioner Marietta Robinson. During her time at the CPSC, she was involved in a wide range of issues, including providing advice and counsel on all proposed consumer product regulations, and mandatory standards, as well as product recalls, Section 15(b) reporting, administrative litigation, and enforcement and settlement agreements.Continue Reading Addition of Heather Capell Bramble Strengthens Venable’s Consumer Products and Product Liability Practices

As we spend time with family and loved ones over the holidays and reflect on the year that’s passed and the year to come, all of us in Venable’s Adlaw practice wish you a Happy Holiday and Prosperous New Year.

Advertising Lawyers at Venable's Holiday Party

We are pleased to announce that Venable has been accepted as a member of GALA (Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance). GALA is an alliance of lawyers located throughout the world with particular expertise and experience in advertising, marketing and promotion law. (Click here to go to the GALA website.) Being a GALA member will help us

Happy Halloween to our Blog Followers! We wanted to share our Advertising, Marketing & Digital Media group’s tribute to great advertising spokespeople. This was our group entry in the Venable annual costume competition. We had stiff competition from the IP group patent troll, but dressing up together made us all laugh and remember why we

gaming keyboardThe ASA received 23 complaints from individuals believing that the game content for No Man’s Sky (“NMS”) was not the same as was advertised on Steam (Steam is an entertainment platform where, among other things, video games are advertised to Steam’s gaming community). The Complainants challenged a number of advertised NMS features including that: (1) the gameplay footage on Steam misrepresented the game; and (2) the in-game graphics did not match the advertisement.

The game developer — Hello Games — provided the ASA with evidence about NMS, including a play-through of the game from the beginning that lasted 4 hours; user-uploaded, video-sharing content of the game; and a copy of NMS. Hello Games responded to the complaints that “unlike most games” each part of NMS was “procedurally generated rather than manually developed.” In other words, NMS used algorithms to determine what content a particular plaintiff encountered; that the user experience was not scripted; and each player would have their own individual experience.Continue Reading U.K. Advertising Standards Authority’s Second Look at No Man’s Sky Is Worth a Look for any Video Game Advertiser

International Women's DayI have spent much of last week, when International Women’s Day was held, pondering how I can #BeBoldForChange in a time when working for a more inclusive, gender-equal world has never been more important, at home or abroad. Forgive me as this is not the usual blog on legal developments, but since I have this little blog soapbox, I thought I would exercise it just a bit.

On Wednesday, the actual day of International Women’s Day, I spent a wonderful evening in the new Venable DC office at an event honoring the Power of Resilience with an insightful conversation between my partner Stephanie DeLong and Debra Smilley-Wainer, the Senior General Counsel — International at Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services (IIS). Later in the evening, I was rocked to my core at the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards honoring women from around the world serving on the frontlines of change, including a Malawai chief who is reversing child marriages and ensuring girls have access to schools, and a digital activist in India using crowd source data to pinpoint and combat sexual violence in India. And I was not alone, of course. The press reports the First Lady spoke about equality and a focus on education for women at a White House lunch honoring International Women’s Day.Continue Reading Be Bold for Change

As we begin to wind down for the year (and we hope that holds true for you), we wanted to take a moment to thank each of you for your support and to wish you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season and a terrific 2017.  We know that – in this era of