WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIOIP/N/1/LVA/I/1
24 June 1999
(99-2603)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English/
anglais/
inglés
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND REGULATIONS
NOTIFIED UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT
LATVIA
The present document reproduces the text1 of an excerpt of the Law on Competition
applicable to unfair competition and misleading advertisement, as notified by Latvia under Article
63.2 of the Agreement (see document IP/N/1/LVA/1).
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES
À LA PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES
AU TITRE DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD
LETTONIE
Le présent document contient le texte1  d'un extrait de la Loi sur la concurrence applicable à la
concurrence déloyale et la publicité trompeuse, notifié par la Lettonie au titre de l'article 63:2 de
l'Accord (voir le document IP/N/1/LVA/1).
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD
DEL PÁRRAFO 2 DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO
LETONIA
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto1 de un pasaje de la Ley de Competencia
aplicable a la competencia desleal y la publicidad engañosa, notificado por Letonia en virtud del
párrafo 2 del artículo 63 del Acuerdo (véase el documento IP/N/1/LVA/1).
                                                     
1 In English only/En anglais seulement/En inglés solamente.IP/N/1/LVA/I/1
Page 2
EXCERPT OF THE LAW ON COMPETITION
Chapter V. Unfair competition and misleading advertisement
Article 22. Prohibition of unfair competition
(1) Unfair competition is prohibited.(2) Unfair competition is activity, the result of which violates normative acts or the
fair practice of business activit y and has created, or could crea te, the prevention, restriction or
distortion of competition.
(3) Unfair competition may take the following forms, such as:
1) the use imitation of another market participant's (existing, terminated or
reorganised) legal name, distinctive marks or other features, if may be misleading as to theidentity of the market participant;
2) the imitation of the name, appearan ce, label, or packaging of goods
produced or sold by another market participant or the use of its trademark, if it may bemisleading as to the origin of the goods;
3) the spreading of false, incomplete or distorted inform ation about another
market participant or its employees, as well as about the economic significance, quality, type
of production, features, quantity, utility of the goods sold or distributed by such market
participant(s), or about the prices, their form ation and other condition, if such actions may
create losses for these market participants;
4) the acquisition, use distribution of information including the commercial
secrets of another market particip ant without this party's consent;
5) the influencing of employees of anot her market participant through threats
or bribery, so as to create advantages for one's own economic activity, thus creating losses tothis market participant.
Article 23. Prohibition of misleading advertisements(1) Misleading advertisements are prohibited.(2) An advertisement is considered to be misleading, if it contains a false, relevant
statement.
(3) A statement or concealed information is considered to be relevant, if there is a
basis to believe that it influences or  may influence the consumer's decision.IP/N/1/LVA/I/1
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 Article 24. Liability for unfair comp etition and misleading advertisement
(1) If violations of the requirements desc ribed in Article 22 or 23 of this law are
ascertained, then the Competition Council by its  decision may require the relevant market
participants to terminate such violations . Simultaneously, the Co mpetition Council may adopt
a decision about the assessment of a fine from th e relevant market participant of up to  five
percent (5%) from its previous financial year's  turnover for the benefit of the state budget.
(2) Competition Council decisions about the failure to observe the requirements of
Article 22 or 23 of this law may be appealed to the regional courts pursuant to the proceduresset forth in the normative acts.
(3) The Competition Council may adopt a decision to bring the responsible physical
persons (officials) to administrative liability, if it ascertains that the requirements of Articles22 or 23 of this law have not been observed.
(4) The responsible physical persons (officials) may be brought to criminal
responsibility for repeated failure to observe the requirements of Ar ticle 22 of this law.
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