A complaint filed against PChome Online Inc. for publishing “Japanese-component Rattler 2004 Ultra” radar detector advertisement on PChome Online Purchase, the advertisement is false and violates Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law

Chinese Taipei

Case:

Key Words:

PChome, radar detector, original package, false advertisement

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Decision of December 1, 2005 (the 734th Commissioners’ Meeting); Disposition (94) Kung Ch’u Tzu No. 094130

Industry:

Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses (4811); Retail Sale of Motor Vehicle Parts and Supplies (4743)

Relevant Laws:

Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. The Fair Trade Commission received a complaint from the public indicating that PChome Online Inc. (hereinafter referred to as PChome) has published “Japanese-component Rattler 2004 Ultra” radar detector advertisement on PChome Online Purchase Website (http://shopping.PChome.com.tw). However, the said complainant after receiving the purchase from PChome discovered that the aforementioned product was not, “originally imported from Japan” as claimed in the Internet advertisement, but rather was manufactured by a Taiwanese company. The said advertisement has violated the provision of Article 21, Paragraph 1 of the Fair Trade Law.
2. Grounds for disposition:
   • According to Article 21, Paragraph 1 of the Fair Trade Law, “No enterprise shall make or use false or misleading representations or symbols as to price, quantity, quality, content, production process, production date, valid period, method of use, purpose of use, place of origin, manufacturer, place of manufacturing, processor, or place of processing on goods or in advertisements, or in any other way making known to the public.” The so-called “false” means a representation or symbol that is inconsistent with facts, where the discrepancy would be unacceptable to a considerable number of the general or relevant public, and sufficient to cause misunderstanding or erroneous decisions; the so-called “misleading” means a representation or symbol, whether or not consistent with facts, where the discrepancy would be unacceptable to a considerable number of the general or relevant public, and sufficient to cause misunderstanding or erroneous decisions. An enterprise is deemed as violating the provision of Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law if makes or uses false or misleading representations as to content and quality in its advertisement or in any other way making known to the public.
   • The investigation found that PChome and Thunderbolt Company published “Japanese-component Rattler 2004 Ultra” radar detector advertisement on the website of PChome Online Purchase. The content of the aforementioned advertisement includes wordings such as “originally manufactured and assembled in Japan”, “the whole set is manufactured in Japan”, “this model [Rattler 2004 Ultra] Japanese radar detector – the whole set is assembled and manufactured in Japan, its quality control is definitely unquestionable”, “[Rattler 2004 Ultra] Japanese radar detector is the only detector designed and manufactured by Japan in the shop”. The regular consumers when paying ordinary attention to the aforementioned advertisement will have the impression that the product at issue was completely designed, manufactured, and assembled in Japan and then exported to Taiwan.
   • The PChome Company and Thunderbolt Company were requested to present evidences proving the validity of the advertisement at issue. However, both companies were unable to present any concrete evidences on their claims that the product was originally imported from Japan. Although PChome argued that the webpage content at issue was produced according to, the sample and description labeled with “Made in Japan” provided by Thunderbolt Company, but Thunderbolt Company failed to present any concrete evidence to prove that the product in this case was originally imported from Japan. Thunderbolt Company only confessed that the main parts of the product in this case were imported from Japan between May 2004 and November 2004; but since November 2004 until August 2005, the components and parts were imported from Japan and the radar detectors were assembled in Chinese Taipei. In addition, the accessory, internal and external packaging were also manufactured and packed in Chinese Taipei. Therefore, prior to the publishing of the advertisement at issue, the product in this case was not designed, manufactured and assembled in Japan and originally exported to Taiwan, but both companies until January 10, 2005 still published the aforementioned advertisement content at issue in a webpage of the aforementioned website. It can be concluded that the companies have made false or misleading representation in the advertisement that is sufficient to affect the public making reasonable trading decisions. Such conduct has violated the provision of Article 21, Paragraph 1 of the Fair Trade Law, a fine of NT$ 350,000 and NT$ 250,000 were respectively imposed on the PChome Online Company and Thunderbolt Company.

Summarized by Liu, Keh-Hae;
Supervised by Shen, Li-Yu

Appendix:
PChome Online Inc.’s Uniform Invoice Number: 16606102
Thunderbolt Co., Ltd.’s Uniform Invoice Number: 16690065