As an alternative to ordinary court proceedings in Norway, you may approach the Committee for the Control of Unfair Competition to decide whether a competitor’s actions comply with good business practice or not.
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.
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Competition, marketing, Dream ice cream, similarity, trade dress
