CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Irena Lišková, Ladislav Mádl, Eliška Říhová and Adam Vymazal, Randl Partners
• it does not disparage a competitor, its position, its activities, its results or its identification, or unfairly benefit from such disparagement; and • it does not present the advertiser’s products or services as an imitation or copy of trademarked products or services of a competitor, or of the competitor’s name. In addition to the above: • the Advertising Regulation Act sets out further rules for enforcement of compliance with the rules of comparative advertising, and also provides spe - cific rules for comparative advertising of pharma - ceuticals; and • the Consumer Protection Act stipulates that a commercial practice shall also be deemed to be misleading if it involves comparative advertising, which leads to confusion with another product or service, or with the trade mark, trade name or other distinctive signs of another seller. The Code of Advertising Practice includes a specific section on price comparisons as well as several rules on discrediting and disrespecting competitors and their products. 4.2 Competitor Copyrights and Trade Marks If the general conditions for comparative advertising are met (see 4.1 Specific Rules or Restrictions ), it should also be possible to use the name of a com - petitor or a competitor’s packaging in comparative advertising. 4.3 Challenging Comparative Claims Made by Competitors The advertiser may challenge claims made by a com - petitor through civil law proceedings. If the rules on comparative advertising for medici - nal products for human use, health services, medi - cal devices or in vitro diagnostic medical devices are violated, a fine of up to EUR77,000 may be imposed under the Advertising Regulation Act. A fine of up to EUR192,000 may be imposed if the comparative advertising is considered a misleading practice under the Consumer Protection Act.
If the social harm caused by the prohibited compara - tive advertising is serious enough to constitute a crime (eg, breach of competition rules causing a significant degree of harm to other competitors or consumers, or obtaining an unfair advantage for itself or another to a significant degree), criminal liability may also be established (the penalty will depend on the damage caused). Criminal liability of legal persons is also pos - sible. Supervision is undertaken by the bodies listed in the Advertising Regulation Act, depending on how the advertising is distributed and the types of products being compared. 4.4 Ambush Marketing Ambush marketing is not defined in Czech law and there is no special legislation regarding ambush mar - keting in general in the Czech Republic. However, certain parts of general legal regulation also apply to this form of offensive marketing, including: • provisions of the Civil Code on competition law (for example, the prohibition of unfair competition); and • provisions of the Copyright Act on the protection of copyrighted works (ambush marketing may lead to the unauthorised use of visual, musical or cinemat - ic materials created for a sports event, and thus a breach of trade mark rights may occur). Since the Olympic Games are an event where ambush marketing is very often used, the Act on the Protec - tion of Olympic Symbolism addresses this issue in the Czech Republic. 5. Social/Digital Media 5.1 Special Rules Applicable to Social Media As there is no specific law in the Czech Republic regu - lating social media, general rules for advertising apply (relevant parts of the Advertising Regulation Act, the Civil Code and the Consumer Protection Act). Moreo - ver, the On-Demand Audiovisual Media Services Act may apply where a provider of on-demand audiovisual media services has editorial responsibility for the pro -
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