Competition
Unfair Competition, Advertising, and Consumer Protection

Advice on Unfair Competition and Advertising

Our Competition Practice Group regularly answers inquiries on possible acts of unfair competition that may take place in the different market sectors, in keeping with the criteria and standards applied by the authority in charge of looking after free and fair competition on the market: INDECOPI.

In the advertising field, in view that INDECOPI takes ex-post control action, our Firm receives all product or service ads intended to be broadcast by our clients, before they are broadcast, in order to check the proper fulfillment of the advertising rules and regulations. Accordingly, our Firm has extensive experience in determining the lawfulness or unlawfulness of ads, particularly those related to pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, fast food facilities, banking, financial and insurance products and services, car ads, promotions in general, credit sales, etc.

Similarly, our Firm does not lose sight of the different ads broadcast by the competition, in order to determine whether or not they infringe the applicable advertising principles, such as truthfulness, legality, non-denigration, non-discrimination, and authenticity.

Our legal team has substantive experience in handling and providing advice on unfair competition and advertising procedures with INDECOPI, representing either the plaintiff or the defendant. Our lawyers get fully involved in each case entrusted to them. They conduct a follow-up of each process by preparing and filing convincing and persuasive writs, gathering suitable evidence to support the case, taking part in oral reports, inspection visits and conciliation meetings, obtaining corrective measures, and overseeing the fulfillment of the resolution issued by the court.

During the last five years, the Competition Practice Group has been one of the most active ones in investigating the fulfillment of unfair competition and advertising rules and regulations, participating in several of the most important cases taken to INDECOPI during said period. It has also filed contentious-administrative proceedings with the Judiciary on behalf of our clients.

Advice in relation to Consumer Protection

Our Firm also specializes in providing advice on the different procedures that can be brought with the different INDECOPI courtrooms by dissatisfied consumers or consumers that purportedly were improperly informed of the products or services they bought on the market.

Our lawyers keep in constant contact with our clients to make sure that they design the most efficient strategy, both for our clients and their companies. Thus, for instance, in each case they evaluate the convenience or inconvenience of resorting to alternative conflict resolution mechanisms contemplated in the law.

In addition, every day we answer inquiries on different consumer protection issues related to various economic sectors, including educational services; financial intermediation-abusive collection methods, coercive measures; labeling of pharmaceutical products, food and beverages, air transportation; the real estate sector; medical practice; the automobile industry, inter alia.

Concurrently with the above described advisory services that are rendered on a regular basis, we provide preventive advice based on an evaluation of internal processes, such as the implementation of client service systems, disclosure of relevant information and, in the case of financial intermediation companies, their fulfillment of the “Law that Complements the Consumer Protection Law in the field of Financial Services” and the Regulations thereunder.

During the last five years, our Firm has been one of the most active ones in the field of consumer protection. In fact, we have taken part in the most important cases taken to INDECOPI during said period. We have also participated in contentious-administrative proceedings brought with the Judiciary on behalf of our clients.

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