Court: Supplement comparison guide considered advertisement under Lanham Act Can the First Amendment shield a publisher of supposedly independent product reviews if it has secretly rigged the ratings in favor of one company in exchange for compensation? According to a recent decision, this speech qualifies as commercial speech.
A federal appeals court recently upheld that a nutritional supplement maker can sue the author and publisher of the
NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements for false advertising under the Lanham Act.
“The Lanham Act is best known for being the primary federal trademark statute in the United States. In addition to the trademark provisions, Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act creates a cause of action for false advertising and prohibits any person from misrepresenting his or another person’s goods or services in ‘commercial advertising or promotion,’” explained Attorney Pooja Nair, partner at