JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Tsuyoshi Ikeda, Takaaki Someya, Muneharu Yamamoto and Hiroaki Miyauchi, Ikeda & Someya
3. Limitations and Special Laws 3.1 Representation and Stereotypes in Advertising There are no special rules that address stereotyping in advertising or inclusion, diversity and equity. 3.2 Children There are no special rules related to advertising to children. 3.3 Dark Patterns There are currently no special rules related to “dark patterns” in advertising. 3.4 Sponsor Identification and Branded Content The use of sponsor identification or branded content can infringe a trade mark protected under the Trade - mark Act or constitute an unfair competition conduct violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. 3.5 Special Rules for Native Advertising If the advertising that has the look and feel of edito - rial or entertainment content is considered a business operator’s representation, but is also recognised as being difficult for general consumers to identify as such, this constitutes a violation of the AUPMR. 4. Comparative Advertising and Ambush Marketing 4.1 Specific Rules or Restrictions Comparative advertising claims are also subject to regulation under the AUPMR. 4.2 Competitor Copyrights and Trade Marks The AUPMR does not restrict using the name of a competitor or a competitor’s trade mark, but the use thereof can infringe intellectual property rights (such as the trade mark or copyright), depending on the specific facts of the case. 4.3 Challenging Comparative Claims Made by Competitors If the competitor’s representation infringes the intel - lectual property rights of the advertiser, the advertiser
2.5 Endorsements and Testimonials If endorsements and testimonials are considered a business operator’s representations but are also rec - ognised as being difficult for general consumers to identify as such, this constitutes a violation of the regulation of stealth marketing under the AUPMR. Additionally, such representations can constitute misleading representations under the AUPMR if the endorsements and testimonials are false or if their contents are modified. 2.6 Environmental Claims There are no special rules that apply to environmental claims in advertisements. Nonetheless, if a business operator makes a representation that misleads gen - eral consumers into regarding the impact on the envi - ronment as less than it is, this can constitute a viola - tion of the AUPMR. An administrative disposition was made against such a representation in recent years. 2.7 Disclosures There is a legal obligation to display specified manda - tory information in advertisements under the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions (ASCT) regarding certain types of transaction. 2.8 Other Regulated Claims In addition to misleading representations on quality and superiority and on transaction terms, the AUPMR also covers other types of unjustifiable representa - tions designated by the Prime Minister. These desig - nated representations are: • misleading representations concerning the country of origin of products; • representations concerning soft drinks without fruit juice; • misleading representations concerning the cost of consumer credit; • representations concerning bait advertising; • representations concerning bait advertising for real estate; • misleading representations concerning paid nurs - ing homes; and • representations that are difficult for general con - sumers to discern that they are made by business operators (stealth marketing).
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