NEWS & PUBLICATIONS
Anti-Unfair Competition Law Goes into Effect -- Unfair advertising (including bogus orders for publicity purposes) will be sanctioned.
Thu Jan 18 11:58:00 CST 2018 Published by:Editor

The new Anti-Unfair Competition Law modified Article 9 of the old law by further specifying exactly what constitutes false advertising. Specifically, in addition to prohibiting operators from engaging in false advertising for their products, other conduct such as helping others to place bogus orders for publicity purposes, deleting negative reviews and creating fictitious transactions will also be investigated and punished. In other words, illegal business operators such asChina’s “Online Water Army” and professional product trolls will be subject to punishment.

One of the highlights of this amendment to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law is the regulation of online unfair competition. This includes conduct that obstructs or prevents normal sales of Internet products or services that were legally provided by other operators, including “inserting URLs or automatic redirects from Internet products or services that were legally provided by other operators, without the consent of such operators”.

In addition, the new Anti-Unfair Competition Law clarifies the connections among existing legal frameworks and thereby preserves consistency among legal provisions by effectively harmonizing various related laws.

First, it establishes a connection with the P.R.C. Trademark Law by deleting a provision related to trademark infringement and by adding regulatory provisions concerning Article 58 of the P.R.C. Trademark Law, i.e. using another party’s registered trademark or well-known but unregistered trademark as its enterprise name for the purpose of misleading the public and thereby committing unfair competition.

Second, it clarifies its connection to the P.R.C. Advertising Law by affirming that when an operator violates Article 8 of the new Anti-Unfair Competition Law by publishing false advertising, such operator will be punished in accordance with the relevant provisions of the P.R.C. Advertising Law.

Third, it clearly differentiates itself from the P.R.C. Anti-Monopoly Law by deleting provisions relating to restrictions on competition, administrative monopolies and below-cost sales by public utilities.

(Source: Xinhuanet)

The Watson & Band website is intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in this site is to be construed as creating an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Watson & Band or as offering legal advice on any specific matter. Since we are not providing legal advice through this website, you should not act upon any information that you might receive here without first seeking professional counsel. No client or other reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information contained in the Watson & Band website without seeking appropriate legal or other professional advice based on the particular facts and circumstances at issue.

© Copyright 2000-2015 All Rights Reserved | Shanghai ICP for 15028801 Privacy Policy | User Feedback

沪公网安备 31010402001317号

Lin