Attorney General Madigan Files Suit Against local affiliate marketer

pocketrockets

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More Acai Berriez lawsuits filed today -- although this one is a bit more interesting as they name one popular affiliate and mention they are going after 40 other internet marketers...


Madigan filed three lawsuits today in the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County.

In addition, Harpo, Inc., producers of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “The Dr. Oz Show,” along with Dr. Mehmet Oz, filed a trademark infringement complaint today against 40 Internet marketers of dietary supplements, including acai berry products among others. The Attorney General’s office and representatives from Chicago-based Harpo, Inc., coordinated an investigation of consumer complaints – many provided to the Attorney General's office by Harpo – revealing the deceptive practices of these companies. Neither Ms. Winfrey nor Dr. Oz has ever sponsored or endorsed any acai berry or dietary supplement product.

Madigan filed two separate lawsuits against three suppliers and their related entities. In the first lawsuit against an acai berry supplement supplier, Madigan sued Advanced Wellness Research, its successor, Netalab, and Nicholas Molina, the former president of Advanced Wellness and an agent of Netalab. Both companies are based in Florida and operate out of a fulfillment center in Wood Dale, Ill. Madigan’s second supplier lawsuit is against Crush LLC and its owner, TMP Nevada, Inc., based in Utah.

In the third complaint filed today, Madigan sued Amirouche & Norton, LLC and Larby Amirouche, an affiliate marketer that uses Internet search engines, pop-up ads, Web sites, and advertising on social networking sites to drive Internet traffic to suppliers’ Web sites. Madigan’s complaint alleges that the marketer misleads consumers through false advertising and false endorsements. Affiliate marketers like Amirouche & Norton are generally paid by sellers for driving traffic to their sites.


Attorney General Madigan Files Suit Against Acai Berry Companies
 


FAIL:

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shit, is this the first time an affiliate gets hit? lets hope it doesn't end too bad for larby
 
Ouch, Larby got hit. If I were Eagle I'd be nervous right about now!

It's for trademark infringement, it's more of a "give me money" lawsuit than it is a "shut you down" lawsuit. My guess is the affiliates will get an offer for a $10k settlement + lawyer fees + permanent injunction from using the Oprah/Dr. Oz names for marketing again.
 
It's for trademark infringement, it's more of a "give me money" lawsuit than it is a "shut you down" lawsuit. My guess is the affiliates will get an offer for a $10k settlement + lawyer fees + permanent injunction from using the Oprah/Dr. Oz names for marketing again.
Where did you pull the figure 10k from lol?
 
Where did you pull the figure 10k from lol?

Just guessing :D I mean it's a lawsuit from the state AG for trademark infringement, it's not like they're going to have a swat team storm into affiliate's homes and make them pay a $5 million fine or whatever just for using Oprah and Dr. Oz on landing pages.
 
It's for trademark infringement, it's more of a "give me money" lawsuit than it is a "shut you down" lawsuit. My guess is the affiliates will get an offer for a $10k settlement + lawyer fees + permanent injunction from using the Oprah/Dr. Oz names for marketing again.

Larby got hit by the AG for "false advertising and false endorsements"

If the use of flogs or farticles is being viewed as "false advertising" in this case, then shit...

EDIT: Being sued for $50K plus restitution: wonder how big the "restitution" figure will turn out to be
 
It's for trademark infringement, it's more of a "give me money" lawsuit than it is a "shut you down" lawsuit. My guess is the affiliates will get an offer for a $10k settlement + lawyer fees + permanent injunction from using the Oprah/Dr. Oz names for marketing again.

Try reading the complaint file again -- Larby's case is much more serious than that.
 
Just guessing :D I mean it's a lawsuit from the state AG for trademark infringement, it's not like they're going to have a swat team storm into affiliate's homes and make them pay a $5 million fine or whatever just for using Oprah and Dr. Oz on landing pages.
I would have imagined that it being 40 affiliates they went for the big dogs, so $10k would be insignificant imo.
 
Larby got hit by the AG for "false advertising and false endorsements"

If the use of flogs or farticles is being viewed as "false advertising" in this case, then shit...

That's kind of vague though, IMO any reasonable attorney general would adjust the settlement based on the offense.

"As seen on Oprah [oprah image]" - $10k

"Dr. Oz's #1 super food [Dr. Oz image]" - $10k

"Oprah and Dr. Oz. say you should buy this product [Oprah/Dr. Oz image]" - $50k

"This is the official website of Oprah and I demand that you buy my berries [Oprah image] - $100,000

Edit:

EDIT: Being sued for $50K plus restitution: wonder how big the "restitution" figure will turn out to be

Sounds about right, assuming the AG is willing to settle the case (most of the time they are) I'm sure a decent lawyer can get it settled out of court for about $25k + AG legal fees.
 
i'd say the damage done by using oprah's logos has cost her much more than $10,000. more like millions.
 
I would have imagined that it being 40 affiliates they went for the big dogs, so $10k would be insignificant imo.

You guys are asking the wrong questions...

Which network had the exclusive/aor for those offers and is also owed millions by a few of them too? Start there and you could probably guess all 40. :crap:

Damn goodluck to those involved, but I'm just gonna sit this one out.

Oh yeah, and Larby is friends with most of you, so give the kid a break will ya?
 
the ag is going after the 3 companies, oprah filed trademark infringment against 40 affilaites, two seperate things here no?

be more conerned about the ag than oprah trademark infringment against 40 affilaites.