The recent Court of Justice ruling Innova Vital gives us another (future) classic: the strict rules in the Claims Regulation are also applicable to commercial communication from food businesses to healthcare professionals.
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Allergen-free, what does that actually mean? That was what crossed the minds of the complainants when they saw the claims (100%) allergen-free tomato and vegetable soup and allergen-free meat on the internet. The complainants took this case to the Advertising Code Authority (RCC).
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Snack manufacturer De Vries has marketed the snack MEXICANO since 1984 (right). Both the name and the shape are registered as a Benelux mark for snacks. Private label supplier Bakx makes and sells a similar snack in the Benelux, the Brasero.
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Are Goody Good Stuff sweets better or healthier than other sweets? The website says that they contain only natural flavourings and colourings. A complainant at the Advertising Code Committee (ACC) thinks the name Goody Good Stuff is misleading.
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The great fun of the Internet is that it is so easy to link to another website. Any restriction of that fun may violate fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and information. Yet can one place a hyperlink to a website that contains copyright protected content – a film, a photo, a text?
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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.
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In 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.
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The 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).
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The 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.
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It 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.
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Owners of trademarks and other IP rights may force the tenant of a market hall to take measures which contribute to avoiding new IP infringements from taking place, after a first infringement.
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What 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).
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Last 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.
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The former Mercedes-Benz dealer Együd did not violate trademark rights, even though its name and the Mercedes brand were shown together in an online advertisement which suggested a (no longer existing) commercial relationship between Együd and Mercedes Benz.
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PMP has produced the two-button wingback chair, Janis (shown on the left), since 2013. Competitor Easysofa brought a strikingly similar wingback chair onto the market: the Beto, in various models with one, two, or four buttons. PMP requested a preliminary injunction on the basis of copyright and unregistered Community Design Law. However, according to Easysofa, PMP did not come up with (the design) for the Janis themselves (either).
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In 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.
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The 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.
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The 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.
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According 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.
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