Fed. Trade Comm'n v. Direct Mktg. Concepts, Inc., 09-2172

Federal Trade Commission's suit to recover millions in damages to customers who purchased defendants' purported panaceas off their infomercials

Fed. Trade Comm'n v. Direct Mktg. Concepts, Inc., 09-2172, involved the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) suit against a number of parties seeking both injunctive relief and monetary equitable relief in order to redress customers who had purchased defendants' purported panaceas off their infomercials, claiming violations of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. sections 45 and 52.

In affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment against defendants restoring millions in damages to the customers in its entirety, the court held that the district court correctly granted summary judgment to the FTC on the issue of defendants' liability for deceptive advertising.  The court also held that the district court correctly applied its equitable authority to fashion an appropriate remedy, ordering the defendants to cure their customers in a way that their bogus supplements could not.

Related Link:

• Read the First Circuit's Full Decision in Fed. Trade Comm'n v. Direct Mktg. Concepts, Inc., 09-2172