The following is for educational purposes, and not meant to be legal advice.
In France, comparative advertising is defined as any ad that compares goods or services, which explicitly or by implication identifies a competitor or its goods or services. Comparative advertising in France is subject to the following restrictions:
(a) comparative ads must be truthful and not misleading;
(b) price comparisons between manufacturers are not allowed;
(c) the only advertised price comparisons allowed are those made between distributors with respect to identical products;
(d) comparisons of product features and functionalities are allowed only if they are material, relevant, and verifiable (i.e. comparisons based on non-verifiable features such as trust and taste, are not allowed);
(e) at least one product feature or functionality must be addressed in a comparative ad;
(f) product properties advertised must be objectively quantifiable and preferably from a neutral source, and must not be opinions or value judgments, especially opinions that denigrate a competitor’s product;
(g) when a competitor’s trademark needs to be referred to, the purpose of the comparative ad must not be to gain a benefit from the notoriety of the competitor’s trademark, or present products as an imitation or copy of products bearing the competitor’s trademark;
(h) comparative advertising must not create confusion in the market between the advertiser and the competitor, or discredit or denigrate the trademarks, trade names, other distinguishing marks, goods, services, activities, circumstances of a competitor;
(i) “special offers” or limited duration offers must indicate: (1) date on which the offer begins and ends; (2) whether the offer is subject to limited availability of the goods or services; (3) any special price or specific conditions;
(j) products or services compared must meet the same needs or purpose, and be sold under the same conditions (i.e. substitutable from the buyer’s perspective).
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