The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50839
LEGAL REPORT: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Watch out for 'GREEN WASHING' New best practice guide from the Competition Bureau will inform consumers and advertisers about compliance with laws that prohibit false or misleading representations on products. BY KIRSTEN MCMAHON W hile Canadian com- panies are market- ing green products and services to the point of ubiquity, Canada's Competition Bureau, along with the Canadian Standards Associa- tion, is cracking down on so-called "green washing," with a set guidelines that pro- hibit vague or misleading environmental claims on products and services. We're entering a new green era for products, services, advertising, and the product packing itself, where just saying you're green or eco-friendly will no lon- ger be good enough, say IP experts. Consumers have been bombarded with eco-friendly claims for the better part of the last 18 months, and, with so- called green products and services fl ood- ing the marketplace, it's hard for anyone to know what is the real deal anymore. That's why these new guidelines — more formally known as "Environmental Claims: A guide for industry and ad- vertisers" (available online at www.com- petitionbureau.gc.ca/epic/site/cb-bc.nsf/ en/02701e.html) — are sorely needed, says Susan Vogt, a partner in the Toronto offi ce of Gowling Lafl eur Henderson LLP who practises intellectual property law with an emphasis on advertising and marketing law. "The existing guidelines, I believe, date from 1990, maybe 1991, and that's a long time," she says. "The whole concept of 'green' and 'sustainability' and all of that has, I think, particularly taken off in the last half dozen years, especially with Al Gore, Bono, all of that. "Many, many products and services are market- ed as green or environmentally friendly or eco-friendly. Apparently, for example, Home Depot has a line of 1,600 products marketed under Eco Options. What has happened is that consumers in the last year or two are hesitating to buy prod- ucts that are marketed as green, because they no longer believe the claims," she says. "It's become so widespread." Indeed, as consumers become inun- dated with messages of sustainability and environmental friendliness, complaints about these claims also rise. In the U.K., the Advertising Standards Authority, a www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com SEPTEMBER 2008 53 ILLUSTRATION: HUAN TRAN