Case law

  • Case Details
    • National ID: CCT 440/09 John Caruana v Bonsons Limited
    • Member State: Malta
    • Common Name:N/A
    • Decision type: Administrative decision, first degree
    • Decision date: 06/12/2010
    • Court: Maltese Consumer Tribunal
    • Subject:
    • Plaintiff: John Caruana
    • Defendant: Bonsons Limited
    • Keywords: material information, product characteristics
  • Directive Articles
    Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Section 1, Article 6, 1., (a)
  • Headnote
    The offering of a product under a false mark constitutes an unfair commercial practice.
  • Facts
    The plaintiff purchased a quad motor bike from the defendant.

    Later, the plaintiff established that the motor bike he had purchased, was of another mark than the mark depicted on the motor bike.
  • Legal issue
    In a short reasoning, the court ruled that the defendant had deliberately sold the quad bike under a different mark, thus misleading the consumers to take a transactional decision which they would not have taken otherwise. The mark of a product, so the court held, is essential information which allows the consumers to take an informed decision.

    According to the court, it was the intention of the defendant to mislead its consumers.

    A misleading practice was therefore established.
  • Decision

    Does the offering of a product under a false mark constitute an unfair commercial practice?

    Full text: Full text

  • Related Cases

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  • Result
    The court ordered the defendant to pay damages to the plaintiff.