EC proposals on comparative advertising
Ross Denton
If the Directive goes through, new rules will better define trademark issues, and (with safeguards) permit reference to competitors' marks. Individual EC countries will not be able to apply more stringent constraints of their own.
The European Commission has recently published its proposals dealing with regulation of comparative advertising. The proposals are in the form of a Directive, and operate as an amendment to Directive 84/450/EEC on misleading advertising, implemented in the UK as the Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988.
If the proposal for the Directive is passed by the...