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Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 1. Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 2. Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 4., (a) Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Section 1, Article 6, 1.

With respect to statements about competitors in the context of marketing campaigns, it is possible for a court to intervene when incorrect statements are made, or when statements are made that are correct but unnecessarily discredit the competitor.

The defendant had distributed letters to potential customers containing misleading, discrediting and incorrect statements regarding the conduct of one of its competitors.

The plaintiff argued that the defendant was to be prohibited to distribute certain statements (or statements equivalent thereto).

Is it unfair to distribute letters containing misleading, discreting and incorrect statements regarding competitors?

The court considered that, with respect to statements related to a competitor (or the goods or services offered by such competitor) in the context of marketing, it is possible to intervene when incorrect statements are made, or when statements are made that are correct, but are made in such a way that they unnecessarily discredit the competitor.

The court found the statements in the defendant's letters to be very negative, in particular because it was stated that information was "stolen" by the competitor and that the conduct of the competitor definitely consisted of a "serious delinquent behavior". 

The court stated that the content of the letters created the impression that the plaintiff was a company that conducted dishonest business, while the defendant could not prove that there were grounds for such serious and far-reaching accusations. The statements set forth in the letters were therefore considered misleading and discrediting. As the letters would appreciably affect a recipient's ability to make an informed transactional decision, the court deemed the representations to be unfair.

URL: http://www.marknadsdomstolen.se/avgoranden/avgoranden2009/Dom2009-24.pdf

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The plaintiff's requests were granted.