Unfair Competition Prevention Act Article 2, Paragraph 1, Item 20: Acts Causing Misunderstanding of Origin, etc.☆
1. Explanation of the Provision
The Unfair Competition Prevention Act is a law for maintaining competitive order. This competitive order is defined in Article 1 of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act as fair competition among business operators.
In order to maintain competitive order, it is necessary for companies and business operators to provide accurate labeling regarding their products, etc. Conversely, acts that cause misunderstanding in product labeling unfairly deprive companies that conduct transactions with accurate labeling of customers and disrupt the order of fair competition.
Therefore, this item defines acts such as providing labeling that causes misunderstanding regarding the origin, etc., of goods or services as unfair competition.
The scope of regulation of this item is quite broad, covering “advertisements or documents or communications used in transactions”. Specifically, (i) advertisements refer to representations made to the public for business purposes, (ii) documents used in transactions refer to purchase orders, estimates, invoices, statements, receipts, etc., and (iii) communications used in transactions refer to all forms of communication appearing in transactions, such as emails, faxes, and telephone calls, other than paper documents.
I think it is safe to assume that almost everything falls within the scope of regulation.
2. Specific Examples
Regarding specific examples that fall under this item, a case became an issue in July 2020 where a meat wholesaler in Kobe falsely labeled a total of about 100 kilograms of crossbred beef as “Wagyu” on invoices (Source 1) (Source 2).
Such labeling (labeling acts) is technically called “acts causing misunderstanding of quality, etc.” or “acts causing misunderstanding of origin, etc.”. These labeling acts are representations that cause misunderstanding regarding the quality, content, etc., of goods or services, and the act of selling, etc., products with such labeling constitutes unfair competition under Article 2, Paragraph 1, Item 20 of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
As another example, there was a news report on 12/21/22 about clams from North Korea being sold as “domestic”. Selling North Korean clams by falsely claiming they are domestic constitutes origin fraud (Unfair Competition Prevention Act Article 2, Paragraph 1, Item 20).
Since the import of clams from North Korea is prohibited, this case may also be pursued as a violation of the Customs Act (crime of false declaration) (Reference Information).
・Unfair Competition Prevention Act Article 2, Paragraph 1, Item 20
(Definitions) Article 2: In this Act, “unfair competition” means any of the following: (20) an act of making a representation on goods or services, or in advertisements or documents or communications used in transactions, that causes misunderstanding regarding the origin, quality, content, manufacturing method, use, or quantity of the goods, or the quality, content, use, or quantity of the services, or an act of transferring, delivering, displaying for the purpose of transfer or delivery, exporting, importing, or providing through telecommunication lines goods with such a representation, or providing services with such a representation
●Past Articles
・Unfair Competition Prevention Act Article 2, Paragraph 1, Item 20: Acts Causing Misunderstanding of Origin, etc.
・Unfair Competition Prevention Act Article 2, Paragraph 1, Item 20: Acts Causing Misunderstanding of Quality, etc.
●Reference Information
・North Korean Clams Sold as “Domestic”? Dozens of Locations Searched
・Accusation of Illegal Import Case of North Korean Clams
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