Hong Kong gives brand owners increased powers
12 February 2009
Peter Ollier, Hong Kong
Businesses in Hong Kong will soon have more powers to protect their brands when amendments to the Trade Descriptions Ordinance come into effect on March 2
The Legislative Council introduced the amendments to prevent false or misleading celebrity endorsements and preserve Hong Kong's self-styled reputation as a shopper's paradise. But it has created legislation that "potentially has a very broad application", according to Richard Bird, a senior associate of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Hong Kong.
Section 13C(1) states that any person doing business who "makes a representation to any other person that a particular seller who sells any goods in the course of any trade is connected with or endorsed by any other individual", commits a criminal offence.
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