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On December 10, 2010, in order to maintain the trade order, protect consumers' rights and interests, and avoid unfair market competition by preventing enterprises from misleading the consumers with improper comparative advertisements, the Fair Trade Commission (Commission) issued its "Guidelines on Handling Comparative Advertisement" (Guidelines).
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The term "comparative advertisement" referred to in the Guidelines means advertisements that compare specific attributes of an enterprise's goods or services ("goods") to those of other enterprises, with the purpose of increasing trade opportunities of an enterprise's goods. Under the Guidelines, the following general principles apply to such advertisements:
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An enterprise shall ensure that its advertisement's representation of its own and other enterprises' goods are consistent with the truth; and
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An enterprise shall employ in its advertisement fair and objective methods of comparison.
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The guidelines also provide as examples the following types of illegal comparative advertisement:
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An enterprise shall not employ comparative advertisements that make false or misleading representations of its own goods;
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An enterprise shall not employ comparative advertisements containing false information that cause express or specifiable harm to other enterprises' business reputation;
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1. |
Whether or not an enterprise specifically identifies another enterprise in its comparative advertisements, the advertisements shall not:
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Make false or misleading representations of other enterprises' goods;
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3. |
Make direct comparisons between new goods and old goods, or between goods of different grades;
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Use inconsistent standards to evaluate comparable goods;
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Cite unreliable sources of information to compare goods, or give inaccurate summaries or explanations of information cited;
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Make questionable, conjectural, and subjective statements on unverified points of comparison;
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7. |
Make representations that give an impression of overall superiority of goods based on only partial superiority, or representations that unfairly highlight the advantages of an enterprise's goods while intentionally ignoring the advantages of other enterprises' goods; or
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Make any other comparisons that constitute deceptive or unfair representations of material facts.
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A violation of the Guidelines might be considered a violation of Articles 21, 22, or 24 of the Fair Trade Act.
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