Unfair competition and IP
The decision is not legally binding, but most businesses will follow the panel’s recommendations and cease their infringing activity.
The relevant legislation is the Norwegian Marketing Practices Act (Sections 25 and 30), which prohibits copying distinctive products belonging to others in a way considered unfair and/or potentially confusing. Section 25 is the more general provision, whereas Section 30 strictly concerns imitations. The two provisions partly overlap.
Diplom-Is and Hennig-Olsen Is, Norway’s leading ice-cream companies, recently disputed the ice-cream containers for their products ‘Dream’ and ‘Please’. The case was brought to the committee for a decision.
Diplom-Is was the plaintiff in this case, and argued that the ‘Please’ containers were infringing their ‘Dream’ containers, and that this represented a breach of the Marketing Practices Act Section 30, as it constituted an imitation. Additionally, it argued that the competitor Hennig-Olsen acted in conflict with good business practice among traders pursuant to Section 25.
