Nutricia (H.K.) Ltd., Taiwan Branch violated the Fair Trade Law for its act of publishing comparative advertisement
Chinese Taipei
Case:
Nutricia (H.K.) Ltd., Taiwan Branch violated the Fair Trade Law for its act of publishing comparative advertisement
Key words:
baby formula, comparative advertisement
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of 21 January 1998 (the 325th Commission Meeting); Disposition (87) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 045
Industry:
International Trade (4040)
Relevant Laws:
Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
With its promotional literature dated 15 December 1995 distributed to major hospitals such as Mackay Memorial Hospital and Tri Service General Hospital, Nutricia enclosed a comparison chart between the content of its Pao Pei Le baby formula and that of the BABELAC baby formula series. The comparison chart listed untrue statistics regarding vitamin D, protein, calories, etc. contained in the BABELAC formula, and was alleged to be in violation of the Fair Trade Law.
The Fair Trade Commission's investigation determined that Nutricia had distributed the comparison chart at major hospitals, including Mackay Memorial Hospital. Nutricia did not deny the ingredients and the percentage [of the content] of the BABELAC formula listed in the comparison was inconsistent with the facts. For professional physicians, statistics regarding formula are not only significant data, but also the basis for them to judge and make recommendations and prescriptions. Nutricia deliberately provided professional physicians with false data about the complainant's product and distributed the comparative advertisement so as to achieve its unfair competition objective of taking over the complainant's market. Such acts constitute "deceptive or obviously unfair acts that are sufficient to adversely affect the trading order" and are in violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law.
Summarized by Pai, Yu Chung
Appendix:
Nutricia (H.K.) Ltd. Taiwan Branch's Uniform Invoice Number: 22001897