In recent years, more and more companies have been using various types of climate and environmental claims in advertising for their products. As consumers are regularly strongly influenced by such advertising claims, the courts have set high standards for sustainability advertising, including in the form of informative information.
Recently, the Higher Regional Court of Nuremberg (decision of 15.11.2023 - Ref.: 3 U 1722/23) had to decide on the admissibility of the graphically highlighted advertising statement "FOOT PRINT REDUCES YOUR CO2 FOOTPRINT" on the front label of a wine bottle. A small symbol with the words "ECO Bottle" was attached directly next to the advertising message. The label on the back of the bottle then contained information that only the glass bottle was produced sustainably, but not the wine itself.
The court came to the decision that the advertising was misleading and therefore anti-competitive. Large sections of the average consumer would understand the advertising statement on the front of the bottle to mean that the wine filled in the bottle was also produced with low CO2 emissions. The court did not consider the explanations on the back of the bottle to be sufficient. Due to the graphic design and the prominent position of the advertising claim, the front of the bottle should have contained a clarifying statement that only the bottle delivers the ecological benefit. In this context, in the court's opinion, an asterisk would have been sufficient to enable a clear association between the advertising claim and the supplementary product information on the back.
The ruling clarifies that sustainability advertising is generally permissible even if only the product packaging is sustainable. At the same time, however, care must be taken to place clarifying information in the right places.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this topic, please contact David Horvath.
We are pleased to inform you that Mr. Horvath has joined the Prinz & Partner team of lawyers in November 2023. He advises you as a specialist lawyer for intellectual property law in all matters of trademark, design, competition and copyright law.
Mr. Horvath already specialized in intellectual property and competition law during his studies at the University of Augsburg. Mr. Horvath completed his legal clerkship at law firms in Munich and Augsburg. After being admitted to the bar in 2018, Mr. Horvath worked in a commercial law firm specializing in intellectual property and IT law in Munich until 2023.