Comparative Advertising Legal Regulation

Comparative advertising is defined as advertising, direct or indirect reference to competitors or their products or services. Comparative advertising has the main compound, with a comparative approach, the purpose of competition, the effectiveness of probability .Comparative advertising can be divided into clinged comparison advertising and belittle comparison advertising, a direct comparison and indirect comparison advertising, legal comparative advertising and the illegal comparative advertising. Comparative advertising as a means of promoting effective competition in the market, can break the monopoly power of the market, to encourage market forces, play as a great role. A concrete manifestation of its role as the following aspects: First, the comparison in favor of ads highlighting the main market to its own advantages, and enhance the competitiveness and the strength of its own; the second, more ads will help improve market transparency, to form a reasonable market structure to improve the environment of market competition, thereby promoting a higher quality of competition to achieve; the third, compared with advertising as a result of the characteristics of competition, not only provide its own information of goods or services, also provide the information of the competitors, lager than the general advertising information, more favorable to consumers about goods or services, a more economical choice, while comparative advertising is also an effective mean to protect the consumers' right of knowing.As the legislative model of comparative advertising, there are three types: loose-based, comparative advertising legislation in the United States as representatives; severe type, comparative advertising legislation in theGerman as representatives;type of relief, comparative advertising legislation in the EU as representatives. on the law of comparative advertising there are relatively large differences in the different countries, mainly in the following reasons: First, countries have different national conditions, countries on the value of economic freedom and economic order have different emphasis ; Secondly, they different requirements of good faith; Third, they different emphasis to protect the interests of operators and consumers. From the law of comparative advertising situation, compare the trend of advertising legislation is becoming more and more relaxed. Advertising legislation comparison study is designed to better the application of the law, comparative advertising in the application of the law, the legitimate comparative advertising should follow the principle of objective truth, the the principle of fairness, restrictive principle, comparability principle, the principle of good faith. If the compare advertising in violation of the above principles, which might infringe on the interests of other competitors, unlawful comparative advertising, including the main body of advertisers, advertising operators and advertisement publishers, etc.; the law of comparative advertising is the existence of subjective fault, including intentional and negligent, advertising which if not strictly as a result of negligence that led to the unlawful comparative review of broadcast advertising, should also undertake corresponding responsibilities; law against comparative advertising is the direct object of the interests of comparison, the indirect object is a normal order of market competition; Comparing the performance of illegal forms of advertising there are two types of comparative advertising and unfair laws against comparative advertising.China's comparative advertising on the law, there are some problems, such as: the lack of comparative advertising on the requirements for a positive result, the status of comparative advertising is not clear; comparative advertising on the level of the law is too low, and too scattered; content requirements are too simple, lack of systematic comparison of different regulations on the advertising provisions of the existence of certain conflicts; another ad that is on the comparison of the provisions of the legal responsibilities of the missing. Perfect law of comparative advertising has the following main recommendations: First, the law explicitly compare the nature and role of advertising, comparative advertising targeting the right: The second, in the advertising law system, the concept of comparative advertising, the scope of application of legal standards and so on; Third, a clear comparative advertising, as well as the main obligation to be in breach of its obligations under the liability;China's comparative advertising on the law applicable to the process in some problems, for example, as a result of a number of regulations in the provisions on comparative advertising the existence of conflict at a loss applicable to compare multiple ads infringement disputes, and the high cost of dispute resolution. Caused by more than the legal obstacles to the application of the following: the legal sense of the operators do not have a strong sense of integrity is not too high, the industry self-regulatory organizations as well as the ability to resolve disputes relatively ads less so. Optimization of comparative advertising in China, therefore the application of the law of the environment is more urgent, in view of the above obstacles to the application of the law, to make the following comparison ads to optimize the application of the law environment: first, to enhance law-abiding subjects of comparative advertising awareness and advertising in the interests of relatively impaired awareness of legal rights; Second, to strengthen the overall supervision of comparative advertising. Third, compared to actively explore solutions to the multiple mechanisms advertising disputes.