Welcome to Class Dismissed

Morrison Foerster’s Class Dismissed blog provides insights and reports on the latest news, developments, and trends that affect consumer-facing companies. Subscribe to receive the latest updates by attorneys from our nationally recognized Consumer Class Action and Product Liability practices.

March 05, 2018 - Autonomous Vehicles & Robotics, Product Liability, Consumer Products
Personal Delivery Devices (PDD): New Transportation Frontiers Emerge for Autonomous Vehicle Rulemakers
By: Tessa Schwartz
With regulatory frameworks around autonomous vehicles (AVs) under development at the federal, state, and local levels, new autonomous technology frontiers are emerging for rulemakers. The latest is personal delivery devices (PDDs) – essentially small autonomous vehicles designed primarily for last-mile logistics using sidewalks and
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March 01, 2018 - Autonomous Vehicles & Robotics, Product Liability, Consumer Products
California Opens the Road to Fully Driverless Cars; Federal Policymaking Slowly Rolls Forward
By: Tessa Schwartz
On February 26, 2018, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced new regulations allowing fully driverless cars to be tested on California roads as of April 2, 2018. The announcement culminates a multi-year process undertaken by DMV. The new regulations mark a significant
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February 23, 2018 - False Advertising, Appellate & Supreme Court, Food Misbranding
Second Time Is Not the Charm: Judge Koh Slams Plaintiff’s Second Bid for Class Certification in Baby Food Case
On remand from the Ninth Circuit, Judge Koh nixed a plaintiff’s second attempt to certify a nationwide class of Gerber’s baby food purchasers. Her decision is notable for two reasons. First, in denying plaintiff’s Rule 23(b)(2) injunctive relief class based on changes to Gerber’s
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February 22, 2018 - Environmental Law, Product Liability, Consumer Products
California Proposes Next Group of Priority Products Under Its Green Chemistry Initiative
By: William F. Tarantino
California’s Green Chemistry Initiative has taken another step towards regulating a widely available consumer product. On February 15, 2018, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) released a discussion draft document entitled "Product – Chemical Profile for Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Carpets
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February 13, 2018 - Environmental Law, Product Liability, Consumer Products
California’s Green Chemistry Agency Issues Its Draft 2018-2020 Three-Year Priority Product Work Plan
By: William F. Tarantino
On February 8, 2018, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) released a Draft Three-Year Priority Product Work Plan (2018-2020) (new Work Plan) under its Safer Consumer Products (SCP) Program. The SCP Program is an innovative regulatory scheme to evaluate and require safer
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February 06, 2018 - False Advertising
Amended California Law Expands Requirements for Consumer Subscriptions
By: Julie O'Neill
Subscription and other automatic renewal offers are heavily regulated at both the federal and state levels. A recent amendment to California’s law provides a good opportunity for businesses to review their practices.[1] As of July 1, 2018, the obligations under California law will expand
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January 29, 2018 - False Advertising, Consumer Products, Retail
Reading the Tea Leaves: Ninth Circuit Further Clarifies Injunctive Standing Issues in Bigelow Tea Cases
On December 20, 2017, the Ninth Circuit refined the injunctive standing requirements in the misbranding context in Victor v. Bigelow and Khasin v. Bigelow (collectively, “ Bigelow ”), finding that injunctive standing is limited and requires a current intent to purchase challenged products in
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January 25, 2018 - Consumer Products, CPSC
Nomination of a New Chairman at the CPSC
By: Erin M. Bosman and Julie Y. Park
With the start of the new year, President Trump again nominated Republican Ann Marie Buerkle to chair the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Her expected confirmation will continue to push the CPSC in a more corporate-friendly direction that focuses on consensus building rather
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January 17, 2018 - TCPA, Class Action
TCPA Vicarious Liability Limited by Ninth Circuit in Texting Class Action
By: Tiffany Cheung
In the high-risk Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) arena, the Ninth Circuit recently offered some respite. On January 10, 2018, the Ninth Circuit limited the potential liability that companies may unknowingly face for the communication practices of their upstream vendors. In Kristensen v. Credit
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January 16, 2018 - FDA, Drug & Medical Device, Product Liability
3D Printing Meets Medical Devices: FDA Weighs In On Additive Manufacturing
By: Erin M. Bosman and Julie Y. Park
In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance on Technical Considerations for Additive Manufactured Medical Devices. The guidance represents FDA’s efforts to provide regulatory direction about additive manufacturing (AM)—the broad field of 3D printing—of medical devices. Specifically, AM makes objects by
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Welcome to Class Dismissed

Personal Delivery Devices (PDD): New Transportation Frontiers Emerge for Autonomous Vehicle Rulemakers

By: Tessa Schwartz

California Opens the Road to Fully Driverless Cars; Federal Policymaking Slowly Rolls Forward

By: Tessa Schwartz

Second Time Is Not the Charm: Judge Koh Slams Plaintiff’s Second Bid for Class Certification in Baby Food Case

California Proposes Next Group of Priority Products Under Its Green Chemistry Initiative

By: William F. Tarantino

California’s Green Chemistry Agency Issues Its Draft 2018-2020 Three-Year Priority Product Work Plan

By: William F. Tarantino

Amended California Law Expands Requirements for Consumer Subscriptions

By: Julie O'Neill

Reading the Tea Leaves: Ninth Circuit Further Clarifies Injunctive Standing Issues in Bigelow Tea Cases

Nomination of a New Chairman at the CPSC

By: Erin M. Bosman and Julie Y. Park

TCPA Vicarious Liability Limited by Ninth Circuit in Texting Class Action

By: Tiffany Cheung

3D Printing Meets Medical Devices: FDA Weighs In On Additive Manufacturing

By: Erin M. Bosman and Julie Y. Park