Partner, James Molen, was quoted in Restaurant Business' article regarding Subway's recent lawsuit surrounding the purity of their tuna. Over the past couple of years, James has seen an increase in the number of false advertising actions. In this article, James provides advice and counsel based on his experience with false advertising and intellectual property issues, in addition to general business matters.

Excerpts:

“There’s an absolute explosion in terms of demand letters we’re getting from plaintiffs' law firms,” Molen said. “Most are trying to extract a settlement.”

“Whenever you file a lawsuit, in California and most jurisdictions, you have litigation privilege,” Molen said. “You can say anything you want in a complaint and it can’t come back to you as a plaintiff's lawyer.”

All of which makes Subway’s response to its tuna lawsuit all the more important. “I’m hard-pressed to believe that Subway would [not serve tuna], why a $10 billion company would be playing games like that,” Molen said. “Subway has to deal with the public relations implications of that even if they can demonstrate that this is total malarky.”

Resources

• Restaurant Business