eCommerce

Recent Articles

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  14.03.2023

  China

  China has ac­ceded to the Hag­ue Con­ven­tion of 5 Oc­to­ber 1961 Ab­ol­ish­ing the Re­quire­ment of Leg­al­isa­tion for For­eign Pub­lic Doc­u­ments

  On 8 March 2023, the People's Republic of China (the "PRC") has (finally!) acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (the "Convention").The Convention between the PRC, as the acceding state, and other member states (which will not have raised an objection; see below) will enter into force as of 7 November 2023.This constitutes a long-awaited and very positive development.Please click here to read the full article.

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  06.03.2023

  Poland

  Gre­en­wash­ing - new guidelines and first pro­ceed­ings

  PL

  Promoting products or services using slogans related to their positive environmental impact is becoming an increasingly prominent marketing technique in the public space. International initiatives such as the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and climate neutrality policies are among the reasons for the growing popularity of so-called 'green claims'. More and more consumers also expect businesses to pay attention to their company's environmental impact and are taking these claims into account when making purchasing decisions.New marketing strategies can carry the risk of so-called 'greenwashing',...

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  21.02.2023

  Europe

  VBER and Ver­tic­al Guidelines leave ques­tion open on what re­stric­tions are per­miss­ible in In­ter­net sales

  Article 4 lit. e) VBER, newly introduced with the 2022 reform of the VBER, regulates a hardcore restriction for all forms of distribution that is specifically geared to Internet commerce, and is now central for the evaluation of by object restrictions on Internet commerce. The requirements are explicitly related to Internet commerce and form a uniform standard of review that is in principle free of contradictions. Together with the Internet-related explanations in the European Commission's Vertical Guidelines, this leads to an increase in legal certainty for the companies concerned. However, the...

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  15.02.2023

  England and Wales

  Hot con­sumer law top­ics for 2023

  As we ease ourselves into 2023, there has been a recent flurry of activity at UK and EU level in relation to consumer protection law matters. Here is our round-up of the “hot” consumer law topics which consumer-facing businesses should keep an eye on over the coming year, and which are likely to lead to direct enforcement action:1 - Two-tiered EU regime for online platforms and online search engines kicks off this monthThe first deadline under the new EU Digital Services Act (DSA) hits this week, on 17 February. By that date, all providers of online platforms and online search engines...

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  27.01.2023

  Poland

  Po­lan­d's UOKiK veri­fy­ing im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Om­ni­bus Dir­ect­ive

  PL

  Poland's Competition and Consumer Protection office (UOKiK) is now monitoring compliance with the EU's Omnibus Directive. The relevant implementation legislation went into effect in Poland on 1 January 2023. The UOKiK's compliance monitoring activities began less than two weeks after the implementation of the Directive, which introduces a number of new obligations for businesses that sell products or services to consumers, such as obligations to provide transparent information about price reductions, publish fair consumer reviews, and present offers fairly in search results. The UOKiK reports that...

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  27.01.2023

  Poland

  Po­lan­d's UOKiK is­sues PLN 22m fine for chan­ging reg­u­la­tions and in­creas­ing prices of ser­vices provided

  PL

  Poland's UOKiK has imposed a fine of over PLN 22 million on the TV and internet service provider Vectra for unilaterally introducing clauses into agreements with customers, which make it possible to change these agreements and increase subscription fees. Vectra introduced a modification clause into existing agreements, concluded for an indefinite period, which described the circumstances under which the general terms and conditions of the agreement can be changed. Following this, on the basis of this clause, Vectra increased monthly subscriptions by PLN 5, citing a significant increase in the cost...

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