DEFINITION

The EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), adopted on 11 May 2005, introduces a general prohibition on traders not to treat consumers unfairly. This prohibition is intended to act as safety-net consumer protection legislation.

 

The Directive defines a series of practices as unfair or misleading. Among others, commercial practice shall be considered as unfair if:

 

(a) it is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence, and

(b) it materially distorts or is likely to materially distort the economic behaviour with regard to the product of the average consumer whom it reaches or to whom it is addressed, or of the average member of the group when a commercial practice is directed to a particular group of consumers.

By unfair practices, the Directive covers a very wide spread of practices from misleading actions and omissions to use of harassment, coercion and under influence.

 

The deadline set for the implementation of the Directive into Member States was 12 June 2007. The Directive’s wide scope and flexible provisions will fill gaps in existing EU consumer protection regulation.

Directive 2005/29/EC of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market

 

Wikipedia article on unfair competition

IPR – Intellectual Property Rights