ALIGNMENT OF UKRAINIAN LEGISLATION WITH EUROPEAN UNION LAW REGARDING COMPARATIVE ADVERTISING

Abstract

In this article, the author analyzes the legislation of Ukraine in the field of comparative advertising and the law of the European Union in the field of comparative advertising and provides an assessment of the state of harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with European Union law. The conclusion is that not all key provisions of Directive 2006/114/EC are provided for in the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising", namely, such a provision of the Directive as "(f) it does not take unfair advantage of the reputation of a trademark, trade name or other distinctive signs of a competitor or an indication of the origin of competing goods" is not provided for. It is noted that the European Union may recognize that in this part the legislation of Ukraine has not been brought into line with the law of the European Union, since it does not contain this minimum standard, and may determine the need for further additional work to bring this part of the Ukrainian legislation into line with the law of the European Union. In this regard, the author expressed the need to include in Part 1 of Article 11 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" the following provision: "advertising does not improperly use the reputation of a trademark, commercial name or other distinctive signs of a competitor or an indication of the origin of competing goods." It is also necessary to set out in the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" the conditions under which comparison in advertising is permitted in a way that covers all possible options for encroaching on a competitor's business reputation during comparative advertising and provides the opportunity to consider discrediting a competitor in advertising in any form, so that the concept of discrediting includes direct, hidden or indirect discrediting in any way. The conclusion is drawn that, in general, changes to domestic legislation aimed at bringing it into line with European Union law are effective and aimed at improving Ukrainian legislation in the field of comparative advertising, as the previous provisions allowed for a number of abuses. Clarified conditions for recognizing comparisons in advertising as legitimate better prevent abuse.

References

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