French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

The requirement of relevance is often confused with that of representativeness and leads case law, when it has not been met, to consider that the comparison was not objective or was misleading. The requirement of relevance allows the judge to conduct a double verification: that of the object of the comparison and that of the methodology used.
First, the requirement of relevant comparison requires  …

 Relevant characteristics

The requirement of relevance is often confused with that of representativeness and leads case law, when it has not been met, to consider that the comparison was not objective or was misleading. The requirement of relevance allows the judge to conduct a double verification: that of the object of the comparison and that of the methodology used.

First, the requirement of relevant comparison requires the use of comparable terms. This is not the case for an advertisement that uses the concept of lower calorific value to compare the price of heating using fuel oil and that using electricity, when it is not intended to apply to the latter , or which compares two drugs administered using different methods , products sold in different packaging, meaning that the comparison price is fictitious , or non-comparable elements such as waste production and taste  or different telephone services . The comparison that focuses on products of a different composition or quality is also devoid of relevance . An advertiser also cannot compare the prices charged at a given time by the competitors with those it will charge when it opens, three weeks later , or objective data with mere predictions . The lack of relevance of the terms of the comparison is evident when an advertiser indicates a price difference of 391% between two airlines, without mentioning the diversity of the criticized operator's offer and suggesting that the difference indicated is valid in all circumstances .

The comparison must then be carried out using a relevant methodology. This is not the case when the advertiser composes its sample not of products representative of household consumption but of products on which it is more competitive than its competitor . The representative aspect of the comparison is in effect assessed on the basis of the average purchases made by consumers in supermarkets and not on the basis of the share of the products making up the assortment in the turnover of the two stores being compared . Similarly, the application of a rule of three to compare products of the same kind but sold in different quantities, does not meet the requirements of Article L. 122-1 (former Article L. 121-8) of the Consumer Code, when prices per liter or kilo differ according to the packaging . On the other hand, the legal requirements are met by the table that compares the prices charged for four basic products used to make pizzas and expressing the synthesis in percentages  or the advertising comparing car rental prices with regard to the type of vehicle offered and the number of kilometers per day of rental . To determine if the comparison method used is relevant, professional practices  or the methods habitually used in the area in question  should also be taken into account. For example, a comparative advertisement can use the results of a study on the circulation of several free newspapers carried out by the BVA Institute, recognized in the field of surveys , or, for radio stations offering services of the same nature, the cumulative audience criteria developed by the Médiamétrie Institute, a reference for all audience measurements .

CA Paris, 23 January 1990, LawLex200300001363JBJ.

CA Paris, 22 February 2006, LawLex200600001247JBJ.

CA Dijon, 30 January  2020, LawLex202000000204JBJ.

CA Bordeaux, 21 September 2015, LawLex201500001162JBJ. Contra: T. com. Paris, 28 September 2010, LawLex201200001223JBJ, retaining the relevance of a method consisting in making the comparison not on the price of the products actually offered for sale but on the prices per liter or kilogram, to take account of the differences in packaging of products from one brand to another.

CA Douai, 11 September 2008, LawLex201200001047JBJ.

CA  Paris, March 21, 2007, LawLex200800000029JBJ.

 CA  Lyon, 9 October 1998, LawLex200200000053JBJ.

 T. com. of Paris, 6 November 2002, LawLex200300000941JBJ.

  CA Lyon, 9 October 1998, LawLex200200000053JBJ.

 CA Paris, 10 September 1999, LawLex200200000918JBJ, upholding TGI Paris, 31 May 1996, LawLex200200001357JBJ, noting that the competitor bases its own advertising on the same Médiamétrie sources. Cf. Cass. com., April 28, 2004, LawLex200400001185JBJ: the Court of Cassation considers that it lies with the judge, who holds that the data from the audience measurement studies is inherently volatile, to ascertain whether the comparison based on this data is relevant and verifiable.

CA Montpellier, 12 May 2015, LawLex201500000655JBJ.

CA Paris, 19 September 2013, LawLex201300001363JBJ.

T. com. Paris, 16 May 2007, LawLex200700000599JBJ.

CA Agen, 23 May 2005, LawLex200600001191JBJ: practice of the "comparative shopping cart".

CA  Douai, 29 January 2015, LawLex201500000282JBJ.

  T. com. Paris, 4 October 2013, LawLex201300001432JBJ.

TGI Paris, 12 May 2006, LawLex200600002371JBJ.

CA Riom, 20 October 2004, LawLex200600002478JBJ, upheld by Cass. com., 30 October 2006, LawLex200600002298JBJ.

French Consumer Law

291. Relevant characteristics

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

291. Relevant characteristics

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise