Advertising on Trial - Truthful responsibility at the heart of advertising

Abstract

False advertising is any published claim that is deceptive or untruthful. Misleading advertising is any published claim that gives a consumer an incorrect understanding of product they are interested in purchasing or using. The false and misleading advertising by companies of any product may result in customer suffering a financial loss, or another form of damage to the consumer.

In the present research work the researcher will consider the unnoticed aspect of trademark law which in some instances may constitute a license to cheat. It shows that under certain circumstances a seller can use its own trademark to mislead its customers, free from legal sanction, in contexts where the same behavior would be sanctioned if the seller used other advertising media. Furthermore the researcher will prove that an alternate conception of the economic function of trademarks can be used to understand the informational value of trademarks and their advertising function after identifying circumstances appropriate for legal intervention. Moreover, this article will conclude that the 2015 Consumer Protection Bill’s proposal as a new interpretation of the false advertising provision which had mentioned earlier  in old Consumer Protection Law of 1986,  is not sufficient to eliminate this disparity.

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Keywords: Misleading advertisement; OECD; Trademark; Act; MRTP; Consumer; COPRA; C.PC; Cr.PC.; U.T.P; FSSAI; ASCI