Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Section 1, Article 6, 1., (b)

Mentioning a famous geographical location on a product and in related commercial materials whereas the product does not originate from that location constitutes a misleading commercial practice. 

The defendant sells rum from the Dominican Republic, making several references to Cuba on the bottles and in commercial materials.

The plaintiff, who stated that the products were in no way linked to Cuba and did certainly not originate from Cuba, claimed that this advertising practice constituted an unfair commercial practice for which it requested damages.

In first instance, the court denied the plaintiff's request.   

The court held that the combination of all the references to Cuba, mostly inaccurate, caused professional resellers, and a fortiori consumers, to believe the product originated from Cuba. Therefore, so the court held, those commercial practices are to be considered misleading.  

Does mentioning a famous geographical location on a product and in related commercial materials whereas the product does not originate from that location, constitute a misleading commercial practice? 

Full text: Full text

No results available

No results available

The plaintiff's claim was granted.