Law stipulates certain restrictions involved in advertising goods and services. Part of them is indicated in detailed legal acts that concern just those goods or services but there is also a general regulation containing rules which have to be observed in each case.
The issues concerning the advertisement as the act of unfair competition are governed by the Act of 16 April 1993 on Combating Unfair Competition (published in Journal of Laws 2003, no 153, item 1503). This act is applied in relation between the entrepreneurs who use unfair competition in their business. The “entrepreneurs” means natural and legal persons and organisational units without the legal status, which by performing, even casually, paid or professional activity participate in the economic activity.
The act of unfair competition is the activity contrary to the law or good practices which threatens or infringes the interest of another entrepreneur or customer. The act of unfair competition can be committed also in the field of advertising. According to the abovementioned act, the advertising contrary to the provisions of law, good practices or offending human dignity can also be treated as the act of unfair competition.
The advertisement that can mislead the customer thus susceptible to influence his decision to purchase a product or service is forbidden. Obvious example of the advertisement misleading the customer is presenting the price of product in the net amount (without VAT) or using by the entrepreneur the name of product which is very similar to the other, popular and branded product’s name. When assessing the misleading advertising all its elements should be taken into account, in particular those related to quantity, quality, components, way of manufacturing, usefulness, possible use, repair or maintenance of the advertised products, as well as customer’s behaviour.
As well the advertising appealing to emotions of customers by provoking fear, exploiting superstitions or credulity of children is considered as illegal. For instance this kind of advertisement is usually used in the popular letters with information that the addressee will receive the award when he buy or order specific product (usually the award is drawn lots from among the customers who bought or ordered the product). There is also banned the statement encouraging the purchase of products or services, creating the impression of a neutral information. We can sometimes find those advertisements on the radio or television when the advertising is presenting in the form of news – a professional speaker, recording studio, arranged street sounders, etc.
Moreover law forbids to present advertising significantly interfering with privacy, in particular arduous pressing customers in public places, sending on customer’s expense unsolicited products or abusing use of technical means of communication.

A special kind of advertising is a comparative advertising. According to the legal definition, a comparative advertising is the advertising enabling to identify, directly or indirectly, the competitor or products or services offered by the competitor. This advertising is treat as the act of unfair competition where it is contrary to good practices. The comparative advertising is not contrary to good practices provided that jointly fulfils the following prerequisites:
1.    it is not misleading advertising,
2.    in a fair and verifiable way compares products or services meeting the same needs or intended for the same purpose,
3.    objectively compares one or several material, characteristic, verifiable and typical features of these products and services, including price,
4.    it does not lead to confusion on the market place between the advertiser and his competitor nor between their products or services, trade marks, trade names or other distinguishing marks,
5.    it does not discredit products, services, activities, trade marks, trade names, products,  services, activities or circumstances of a competitor,
6.    in relation to products with geographical regional designation, it relates always to products with the same designation,
7.    it does not take unfair advantage of the reputation of a trade mark, trade name or other distinguishing marks of the competitor or of the geographical regional designation of competing products,
8.    it does not present product or service as imitation or replica of product or service bearing the protected trade mark or another distinguishing designation.
The comparative advertising connected with a special offer should, depending on its terms, clearly and unequivocally indicate the date on which the offer expires or to contain information that the offer is valid till the stock of products is exhausted or till cessation of rendering services and, where the special offer is not binding yet, it should also indicate the date since which the special price or other specific terms of the offer shall be binding.
It should be noted that the act of unfair competition in a scope of advertising can be committed also by the advertising agency or another entrepreneur who elaborated the advertisement.
Concluding, abovementioned restrictions concerning the advertising are just the beginning of the restrictions stipulated by the law. More issues involved in allowed and legal advertising are  indicated in detailed legal acts that concern the goods and services which are advertised, for example advertising of medicinal products, tobacco, alcohol, etc. Advertising is therefore a field in which the invention of creative marketing departments and advertising agencies meets with legal restrictions carefully used by competitive firms.

This entry was posted on Thursday, 11-03-2010 at 12:07 by Tomasz Wachowski and is filed under How to invest in Poland. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.