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On May 3, 2023, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a provisional order with a $15.8 million civil penalty against Wisconsin-based Generac Power Systems, Inc. (Generac) over charges that for more than two years, Generac failed to report serious hazards caused by some of its portable generators. According to the CPSC, from October

In a notice published in the Federal Register on August 8, 2022, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff announced that the CPSC will hold a workshop on October 13, 2022, to discuss CPSC’s eFiling Program and the Commission’s plans for a joint Beta Pilot Test with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (previously

In a complaint dated April 12, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) brought its first action under the new Made in USA Labeling Rule (the Rule) against Lithionics Battery LLC (Lithionics) and its owner, Steven Tartaglia, for falsely advertising Lithionics’ lithium-ion batteries as USA-made.

According to the FTC’s complaint, from at least 2018 until at

On February 24, 2022, Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. (Keurig) agreed to pay $10 million to settle a long-running class action that alleged the coffee company deceptively advertised its K-Cups pods’ recyclability by misleadingly labeling and marketing them as “recyclable” when the pods were in fact not accepted for recycling in many areas. The settlement follows

On October 5, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of environmental legislation into law, including two bills aimed at environmental marketing claims. SB 343, Truth in Labeling for Recyclable Materials, which we previously wrote about here, will significantly affect how recyclability claims can be made. Under AB 1201, compostable and

With millions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices from phones to smart home censors flooding the market every year, effective cybersecurity to help mitigate risks to devices is vital. New guidance from The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), IoT Non-Technical Supporting Capability Core Baseline (NISTIR 8259B), is intended to help manufacturers identify the

On August 31, 2021, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its draft white paper, DRAFT Baseline Security Criteria for Consumer IoT Devices. The draft white paper is in response to Executive Order (EO) 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” which requires NIST, in collaboration with other agencies, to educate the public