Legal

Despite questions surrounding the SEC rule, including disputes being litigated in the US Eighth Circuit, companies must prepare to meet the new climate disclosure requirements in addition to related mandates in California and abroad. Experts emphasize opportunities beyond compliance.

California authorities say predominance of retailers licensed to sell hemp are compliant with ban published effective on 3 October through emergency regulation. But hemp industry’s contesting the regulation in state court, arguing state authorities inappropriately used emergency action to change state law on hemp products legislature passed in 2021.

Plaintiffs in California federal courts seek restitution, damages, and other relief on behalf of themselves and consumers nationwide, whom allegedly were deceived by “Plant-Based” representations on Aveeno and Neutrogena Makeup Removing Wipes.

Filed on 20 August by Pensacola, FL-based law firm Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz (AWKO) on behalf of an unnamed client, the petition points to benzene study data unconnected to Valisure on unheated benzoyl peroxide products, but is light on details of how it was conducted.

Bicoastal litigation against DDG alleges that its labeling of “C+Collagen” items misled consumers into believing the products contained collagen. The defendant argued that “vegan” declarations on the products’ labeling and “Collagen Amino Acids” in their ingredient lists provided sufficient clarification, but California and New York federal courts have not been persuaded.

The National Advertising Division provides guidance to “minimalist” beauty and personal-care marketers with its review of “simple” claims on Native deodorant, body wash and other personal-care products.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling is expected to have a minimal impact on drug approvals and other scientific determinations, but matters steeped in the interpretation of regulation and statute, such as marketing exclusivity, could face a heightened risk of challenge, legal experts say.

The European Commission fines International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. and its French division €15.9m after a senior employee deleted WhatsApp messages with a competitor during an inspection, part of an ongoing antitrust investigation into four major flavors and fragrance manufacturers.

Proposition 65 titanium dioxide lawsuits have been halted by a ruling in California in a First Amendment case, which could bode favorably for other scientific challenges to mandated warning labels.

Elixir Cosmetics has reached a $2.3m settlement with US consumers in California state court over alleged violations related to isopropyl cloprostenate use in Babe Lash and Babe Brow offerings. On 5 May, plaintiffs making similar allegations filed suit against the company in New York federal court.

Beauty and personal-care companies should draft an artificial intelligence use policy as soon as possible, regardless of their AI plans, given its ubiquity and the potential for employees to use it on their own, says Melanie Howard, partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP.

The Personal Care Products Council seeks to stem the rising tide of titanium dioxide Proposition 65 lawsuits, requesting that a California court prohibit the state’s Attorney General and private enforcers from filing and/or prosecuting new suits against cosmetics companies failing to warn about potential TiO2 exposure.

Artificial intelligence opportunities are on the rise for marketers, including in the beauty and personal-care sectors. Reed Smith partner Stacy Marcus offers advice on staying compliant with US consumer protection and copyright laws in this rapidly changing world.

Benzoyl peroxide-based acne drug products and their alleged proclivity to become contaminated with carcinogenic benzene are at the center of putative class actions filing against L’Oreal in federal courts around the US.

Sephora successfully dismissed a putative class action in New York’s Northern District on 15 March, as the judge was not convinced by the plaintiff that a reasonable consumer would read “Clean at Sephora” as meaning “no synthetic or harmful ingredients whatsoever.”

J&J, Target and Walgreens face class action complaints in California federal courts for economic harms caused by their sale of benzoyl peroxide-containing acne treatments, following Valisure’s 5 March citizen petition to the US FDA on findings of high levels of benzene in such products.

Ammonia is in fact absent from “Ammonia-Free” Creme of Nature Moisture-Rich Hair Color with Shea Butter Conditioner, and what’s missing from plaintiff’s class action complaint is lab testing to corroborate her findings at home using ill-suited testing strips, Revlon says.

The United Nations treaty on plastics pollution, considered ‘the most important climate deal since Paris,’ stands to have a direct impact on the cosmetics industry, potentially by targeting intentionally added nano-plastics in addition to microplastics in cosmetics, says attorney Melissa Kopolow, who spoke at the Personal Care Products Council’s annual meeting in Miami on 27 February.

Whether called “dark patterns,” “shady” online marketing practices, or simply deception on the internet, the issue has taken on high importance at the US Federal Trade Commission and is being tackled by new laws in a growing number of states. Amin Talati Wasserman partner Lauren Aronson discusses in this interview with HBW Insight.

According to plaintiffs in California federal court, P&G’s claims on Herbal Essences and Pantene shampoo and conditioner products about high proportions of natural-origin or naturally derived ingredients are false and/or misleading, and ISO 16128 certification does not cure the deception.