Hulda Clark Alt. All but most serious misleading advertising cases will now be pursued in civil proceedings by the Commissioner in the Competition Tribunal, the Federal Court, or Provincial Superior Courts.
Criminal prosecution remains an option in serious cases.
Complaint Procedures Under the new civil regime, a complaint must be lodged with the Commissioner of Competition in order to engage the process. Marilyn Field-Marsham discusses, in a series of three articles, recent cases concerning false or misleading advertising, comparative advertising and unsupportable advertising claims. The first article appearing in this issue gives an overview of available recourse to attack misleading or comparative or unsupportable advertising and, more particularly, deals with claims under the Competition Act. The second article will cover claims under the Trade-marks Act, and the third article will discuss the factors that the courts consider in assessing advertisements and give guidelines for advertisers to minimize exposure and for targeted competitors to restrain offensive advertising. The advertiser bears the onus of proving, on a balance of probabilities, that its representations are based upon proper and adequate tests.