Complaint against Iou Liang International
Co., Ltd. and Lien-Ch'i International Co., Ltd. of misleading advertising in
violation of the Fair Trade Law
Chinese Taipei
Case:
Complaint against Iou Liang International Co., Ltd. and Lien-Ch'i International
Co., Ltd. of misleading advertising in violation of the Fair Trade Law
Key Words:
weight loss, elimination of fat, slimming pants, television shopping
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of June 29, 2000 (the 451st Commissioners'
Meeting); Disposition (89) Kung Chu Tzu No. 116
Industry:
Clothing Retail (5342)
Relevant Laws:
Article 21
and the forepart of Article 41
of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
- A letter from the Department of Health pointed out that a Taoyuan-area
television-shopping channel was broadcasting an advertisement such as the
followings. "Suo Ti Hsuan Lin third-generation Shuang-mien Chiao-wa [fantasy
sexy girl] slimming/shaping pants," "by converting fat into heat
energy, fat is completely transmuted into water and carbon dioxide,"
and "only the 'Shuang-mien Chiao-wa' can effectively remove your fat."
The letter stated that the advertisement claimed effectiveness in weight losing
and fat removing, while in fact there was no medical theory or clinical evidence
to support it.
- The Fair Trade Commission investigation found that Iou Liang International
Co., Ltd. (Iou Liang) and Lien Ch'i International Co., Ltd (Lien Ch'i) upheld
their partnership and marketed the said product. For promoting, they sold
the product via television shopping since September 1999. They not only leased
a television channel from a local cable company but also delegated agencies
to television shopping operators in other areas. Concerning the words at issue
applied at the advertisement, the two companies argued that they referred
to theories of weight reduction or fat removal at beauty magazines, but they
were unable to produce concrete experimental evidence or statistics to demonstrate
that the product provided above-mentioned effects.
- In summary, the advertisement, published by Iou Liang and Lien Ch'i companies
claiming that their product provided weight reduction and fat removal effects,
was false and misleading representation in violation of Article 21 (1) of
the Fair Trade Law. In view of the motivation and purpose of the companies,
the degree of injury to the trading order and past infringement, the Commission,
according to the forepart of Article 41 of the Fair Trade Law, ordered them
to cease the representation at issue and respectively imposed the two companies
a fine of NT$ 200,000.
Appendix:
Iou Liang International Co., Ltd.'s Unified Invoice Number: 97215631
Lien Ch'i International Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 97315478
Summarized by Chou, Pai-Wei
Supervised by Wu, Ting-Hung
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