Consumer & Retail Products
The biggest names behind the most established brands trust O’Melveny to protect their products and reputations.
The biggest names behind the most established brands trust O’Melveny to protect their products and reputations.
O’Melveny has a long history of serving as a trusted advisor to consumer retail companies whose legal issues raise complex liability questions relating to consumer fraud, false advertising, breach of warranty claims, personal-injury allegations, and intellectual property issues. From defending against multibillion-dollar class actions to advising on new regulations, corporate governance, and international expansion, O’Melveny’s Consumer & Retail Products team represents and advises the biggest manufacturers, distributors, and retailers across a range of industries.
We know the sectors we serve inside and out: personal care products and pet food, gaming and global positioning, apparel, consumer electronics, footwear, food, and pharmaceuticals.
We know courts and we know regulators, too. Our team includes lawyers with decades of combined experience as federal prosecutors, at the Federal Trade Commission, and with state attorneys general. And we augment that deep knowledge and experience by collaborating with lawyers across practices areas, including intellectual property, product liability, data security and privacy, public offerings, advertising and branding, regulatory, and M&A.
Our Consumer & Retail Products team spans the US, China, Japan, and Korea, and advises clients not only on litigation and regulatory matters, but on the legal, business, and cultural issues associated with international expansion. Whether structuring and negotiating cross-border investments, advising on compliance with the FCPA, managing real estate footprints and global supply chains, or helping protect intellectual property, our team helps clients navigate and avoid challenges so they can focus on what they do best.
Negotiated a favorable settlement ending more than 40 class-action suits against subsidiary Hill’s Pet Nutrition over a recall of canned dog foods following a supplier error.
Defending Ford in a multi-state class action seeking hundreds of millions of dollars arising from allegations that the MyFord Touch information and entertainment system was defective.
Stepping in just before trial, won a jury verdict for the tech giant, defeating patent infringement claims against Google’s popular smart-home Nest Hub devices.
Secured multiple victories protecting Hulu’s core technology for on-demand live streaming.
Secured a series of victories in a number of nationwide putative class actions involving its talcum-powder product.
Successfully defeated a US$343 million statutory damages claim over false advertising claims involving the labeling of its butter substitute food product.
Successfully defended against a dispute alleging false and misleading business practices in the marketing and sale of its acne treatment mask.
- Negotiated a global resolution of claims from 48 states and more than 3,000 municipalities accusing pharmaceutical manufacturers of causing the opioid-abuse crisis.
- With US$50 billion on the line, we convinced a California judge that four local governments could not expand public-nuisance laws to address alleged opioid-related harms.
- Convinced the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reverse a trial court’s ruling that called for our client to pay US$465 million for nuisance abatement.
In a first-of-its-kind case, defeated class certification in a case alleging defects in the glass used for Kia’s panoramic sunroofs.
Assisted early stage retail and retail technology-focused venture capital firm Legendary Ventures on numerous investments, including in men’s skincare retailer Bottlecode, cryptocurrency checkout and payment solutions provider DataMynt, and children’s sleep training product developer Snorble.
Represented a major California-based consumer electronics company in scores of cases involving its famous consumer products and services—from power button and storage capacity litigation to software update and image retention litigation.
Provided corporate counseling to fast-growing China-based coffee Chain Manner Coffee, including on its US$305 million Series C financing.
Protected Samsung’s best-selling products in a host of patent cases in the ITC, US District Courts across the country, the USPTO, and on appeal.
Worked with consumer brand-focused private equity sponsor Sandbridge Capital on numerous investments, including in home exercise machine manufacturer Hydrow and skin care and K-Beauty retailer Peach & Lily, and in the US$425 million sale of its majority interest in upscale fashion designer Thom Browne to Ermenegildo Zegna.
- Defended in litigation brought by the Federal Trade Commission, Attorneys General for 44 states and the District of Columbia, and private class-action plaintiffs concerning the marketing of Skechers’ “Shape-ups” rocker-bottom toning shoes, ultimately resolving the claims of all participants in a single global settlement.
- Defended and prosecuted copyright and trademark/trade dress infringement claims in multiple matters. Obtained a complete defense verdict at trial against rival footwear maker Easy Spirit over its claims that Skechers’ “Commute Time” shoe intentionally copied the design and infringed the trademarked name of Easy Spirit’s “Traveltime” shoe.
Serving as long-time corporate counsel to venture-backed Strava, provider of an app for tracking exercise—over a 15+ year relationship, we advised on all corporate matters, including its acquisitions of Cycleface, Fatmap, and Recover Athletics, and multiple venture financings, most recently its US$110 million Series F financing at a reported US$1.5 billion valuation.