CANADIAN COMPETITION LAW

The Competition Bureau announced yesterday that a Toronto man that had sent out millions of deceptive direct mail promotions to consumers has pleaded guilty to Competition Act offences and has been fined a record CDN $2 million, which is double the amount of the revenues that were received from his activities.  The operator was convicted under the criminal deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act.

The operator, who had been promoting a lottery ticket reselling scheme targeted to non-Canadians (under the name Canadian Lottery Buyers Association), has been placed on probation for 18 months, will donate $100,000 to charity and will be prohibited from engaging in any type of mass marketing for ten years.

The direct mail promotion, which sold group shares of Super 7 lottery tickets, gave consumers the misleading impression that they could win tens of millions of dollars (whereas in fact, according to the Bureau, consumers won just an average of 75 cents).  The lottery promotion was marketed to residents in Australia, the United States and New Zealand.

The Bureau stated in its News Release:

“This case demonstrates the Bureau’s resolve to pursue those who try to hide behind our borders, incorrectly believing they can avoid prosecution,” said Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition. “This plea agreement represents an important achievement in recognizing the significance of these types of crimes, which victimize consumers and undermine confidence in a fair and honest marketplace. Parliament has recently increased the maximum penalty for offences of this kind, which we hope will act as a further deterrent to anyone contemplating such acts.”

This recent case shows both that deceptive marketing remains an enforcement priority for the Bureau and, as well, that the Bureau, with a new Commissioner of Competition having recently been appointed, may be taking a more aggressive approach to the enforcement of the Competition Act.

For more, see: Record Fine for Deceptive Marketing.

For more information about Canadian competition law visit: Merger Notification, Criminal Conspiracy, Abuse of Dominance, Misleading Advertising, Reviewable Matters, Competition Compliance Policies, Trade Associations and Competition Law, Promotional Contests, Competition Law Links, Competition Law Texts and Investment Canada Act.

For more information about Canadian intellectual property law visit: Canadian Intellectual Property Law, Canadian Trademark Law, Trademark Infringement, Trade-marks – FAQs, Canadian Copyright Law, Copyright Infringement, Canadian Internet Law, Internet Law Texts, Canadian Licensing Law, Canadian Domain Name Law, E-commerce, ISP Law, Intellectual Property Law Links and Intellectual Property Law Texts. 

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