Category Archives: Sectors – Retail

July 18, 2016

New International Online Reviews and Endorsements Guidelines Give Practical Guidance to Marketers, Reflect Competition Bureau Policies

Featured Update Practical Law Canada Competition July 18, 2016 This Featured Update discusses the recent Online Reviews and Endorsements Guidelines issued by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN). It includes a summary of key principles and guidelines for review administrators, traders and marketing … Read the rest of this entry »

June 2, 2016

Responding to Online Brand Attacks

Guest post by John Simpson (Shift Law) Online threats to commercial reputations are on the rise. These include “attack sites”, “gripe sites” (e.g., RipOff Report), cyber-libel via social media, domain name high-jacking, meta tag high-jacking and defamatory email campaigns. Online brand and reputation attacks are … Read the rest of this entry »

May 27, 2016

Four Year Mobile Cramming Case Ends With $11 Million Bell, Trade Association Settlements

Earlier today, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced two final settlements in its four-year year litigation against Canada’s major telecoms and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). See: Bell customers to receive up to $11.82 million as part of Competition Bureau agreement. In making the announcement, … Read the rest of this entry »

April 27, 2016

Filing Competition Bureau, CASL and Other Canadian Regulatory Law Complaints

I frequently receive inquires and calls relating to filing a competition, advertising, consumer protection or other regulatory complaint. Companies, individuals or other types of organizations may want to file a complaint relating to a competitor, manufacturer or supplier, retailer or other market participant based on … Read the rest of this entry »

January 5, 2016

Canadian Competition Law Compliance for Associations: CSAE 2016 Winter Summit

I am pleased to be a guest speaker at the CSAE (Canadian Society of Association Executives) Trillium Chapter’s 2016 Winter Summit in Burlington on February 4th. I will be co-presenting an interactive seminar on the Competition Bureau’s new approach to competition compliance for associations together … Read the rest of this entry »

June 13, 2015

Guest Post: U.S. FTC Updates FAQs on Endorsements and Testimonials in Social Media

Major enforcement agencies, notably in the United States (U.S. FTC) and Canada (Competition Bureau have been increasingly focusing on misleading online testimonials and disclaimers. In this respect, earlier this week Canada’s Competition Bureau launched a new advertising law publication with the first issue focusing on … Read the rest of this entry »

June 11, 2015

Competition Bureau Highlights Priorities, Compliance Guidelines in New Advertising Publication

The Canadian Competition Bureau has been increasing its advocacy, outreach and compliance efforts since the (relatively) new Commissioner of Competition (John Pecman) took office. As part of this effort, it appears to be focusing on introducing more new media (and also an increasing range) of … Read the rest of this entry »

June 7, 2015

Canadian Contest Law: Key Questions to Ask if Running a Contest in Canada

CANADIAN CONTEST RULES/PRECEDENTS Do you need contest rules/precedents for a Canadian contest? We offer many types of Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents and forms (i.e., Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents to run common types of contests in Canada).  These include precedents for random draw contests (i.e., where … Read the rest of this entry »