We are pleased to report on an important decision of the Athens Court of First Instance granting interim relief in a dispute concerning unfair competition and misleading comparative advertising. Acting on behalf of a leading European provider of medical and diagnostic services, Athanasia Papantoniou and Yannis Kelemenis successfully represented the applicant and secured injunctive relief in proceedings concerning the promotion in Greece of competing products by an international provider from Asia. The Court ordered the removal of the contested references from the promotional material, backed by coercive measures in the event of non-compliance.

The Court recognised that comparative advertising must remain within strict legal boundaries: it must be objective, verifiable, properly substantiated and must not mislead the market or unfairly disparage a competitor’s products. In this case, the Court found that the use of unverified comparative data and statements in promotional material was likely to mislead customers and undermine the reputation of competing products, thereby amounting to unfair competitive conduct.

Market participants cannot rely on selective, unsupported or disparaging comparisons as a tool for commercial promotion. Particularly in highly specialised and sensitive sectors, such as medical and diagnostic services, accuracy, scientific substantiation and fair presentation are not only matters of good practice – they are legal requirements. You can see the ruling here.