YouTube can be fantastic for advertisers. Based on the profile data of the YouTube viewers you can decide which advertisements to present to them. A great way to target your audience. That was what McDonald’s thought, when it launched a creepy commercial on YouTube: ominous film music, an abandoned country house, a woman who got the fright of her life when confronted with the ghostly figure of a young girl.
Read MoreIn July 2016, our firm was bolstered by Stephanie Reinders Folmer joining us as a legal assistant. She provides support to the lawyers of Hoogenraad & Haak for all aspects of the practice.
Read MoreThe Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has, for some time, been researching price indications in car advertisements. The outcome: ACM concludes that the car industry should be more clear about prices. ACM frowns upon the way the industry deals with car preparation fees (autorijklaarkosten).
Read MoreThe transfer of personal data from the Netherlands to a third country is only allowed if that specific country “ensures an adequate level of protection”. Within the EU countries are considered to ensure an adequate level of protection, because of implementation of the EU Privacy Protection Directive.
Read MoreIt has been quite a turbulent year for food law. After the important Teekanne-judgment on packaging and consumer deception the European Court of Justice delivers an interesting judgment: Innova Vital. We do not need a crystal ball to predict that you will be hearing this name a lot more in the future.
Read MoreWhat should a food company do if it suspects that a food product is possibly unsafe? Rules on necessary action taken by food companies are provided by Article 19 of the General Food Law Regulation (178/2002).
Read MoreLast week, at the 7th International Fresenius Conference in Frankfurt (Mainz), Sarah Arayess lectured on “Health Claims and Functional Ingredients”. Sarah expanded on the rules applicable to food advertising on social media.
Read MoreIn our NEWS 2015-4, we already wrote about the strict position of the Advertising Code Commission (ACC) regarding botanicals that are brought to the market as nutritional supplements. Since the European Claims Regulation, only specific health claims approved by the European Commission after being adviced by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) for an ingredient are permitted.
Read MoreThe summer holidays are approaching – the time of year when the hum of last minute offers starts buzzing about your ears. Recently the Advertising Code Commission (ACC) (and in the Board of Appeal (BoA) made a ruling on a TV commercial from Sunweb.
Read MoreThe European Commission has drafted an outline of an “adequacy decision” that must feature an EU-US Privacy Shield as a substitute for the nullified Safe Harbour decision. The national Privacy Authorities, united into the Article 29 workgroup “WP29”, are critical of the draft decision by the European Commission.
Read MoreAccording to the preliminary relief judge in the Hague, Bavaria’s slogan from 1985, “Well, first a Bavaria” is copyright protected and puts “Well, first off to the cloud” by Your Hosting in violation of that copyright.
Read MoreSummer is approaching, so it is diet season again. Did you know that konjac root can aid in weight loss? The official name for this edible plant from the Arum family is Glucomannan. The root grows in Japan, China, and Indonesia.
Read MoreUp to the present time, uncertainty remained in the Dutch IP-world about who has to reimburse the (full) legal costs if preliminary relief proceedings are withdrawn before the court session commences. I have conducted legal proceedings on this matter and have previously published about this subject. The Dutch Supreme Court has recently brought an end to this uncertainty: if the (former) claimant withdraws the case, he shall be burdened with the actual costs the (former) defendant has incurred.
Read MoreA new edition of our NEWS is out! An easy-to-read overview of developments in advertising law, intellectual property and food law.
Read MoreThe fact that we live in a time when focus on healthy eating is perhaps bigger than ever, is more or less stating the obvious. Marketing departments are also quick in responding to this trend: many products mention why they are so good and healthy. The stage for this health battle is the supermarket, where packages and ads are fighting for your attention.
Read MoreIn April the most important rankings for lawyers and law firms were published: Chambers and Legal 500. Chambers and Legal 500 research the legal market in detail and gauge the opinions of clients and colleagues. Only the best lawyers and firms are listed. Just like in previous years Hoogenraad & Haak and our lawyers do very well in the rankings. Many thanks to our clients and colleagues for providing us with great feedback!
Read MoreLet me tell you about the birds and the bees…Zonnatura is a manufacturer of healthy (biological) products. The company is convinced that it is unnecessary to use a lot of additives to make tasty and healthy food. They show this opinion in a commercial with a singing bee flying through nature, ending up in a factory.
Read MoreThe most important decision in the area of food law in 2015 is without doubt Teekanne. A German consumer organisation found it misleading that tea packaging depicted raspberries and vanilla blossoms with the logo “nur natürliche Zutaten” (only natural ingredients); naturally the consumer would expect the tea to consist of raspberries and vanilla aromas.
Read MoreAt the beginning of the year, almost everything is about tissues, vitamin supplements, thermometers and snivelling colleagues. In the middle of the flu 2016 epidemic, Boehringer, the producer of the well-known cough syrup Bisolvon, sued its competitor Omega Pharma, a newcomer to the cough market. It was alleged that Omega Pharma had produced misleading advertising for its new cough product BRONCHOSTOP®.
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