Advertising Litigation: Second Circuit Clarifies Its False Advertising Jurisprudence

A new Lanham Act decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has clarified “certain aspects of [the circuit’s] false advertising jurisprudence.”  Merck Eprova AG v. Gnosis S.p.A., No. 12-4218-cv(L) (2d Cir. July 29, 2014).  In affirming a district court decision awarding damages and corrective advertising in the context of a two-player market, a unanimous panel identified two legal presumptions that a trial court may apply where literal falsity and deliberate deception have been proven.