Advertising & Marketing
Instinct and experience are key in assessing advertising risk. Whatever your advertising assets, media platforms and target markets, our team delivers fast, reliable and cost-efficient legal support.
Our aim is to help you achieve your marketing objectives while minimising the risk of complaint.
How we can help
We bring together a team of experts that cover the full range of legal issues that can arise in any one advertisement or campaign, including:
- copyright, trade marks and intellectual property;
- comparative advertising;
- false or misleading representations or conduct, including under the Australian Consumer Law and the ASIC Act;
- competition terms and conditions, including gaming laws;
- advertising codes;
- talent releases;
- advertising platform terms of use, including social media;
- existing branding arrangements;
- privacy and the Spam Act;
- advertising food, beverages or alcohol;
- advertising health or medical products.
Experience
Ad clearance advice
We provide flat fee ad clearance advice to regional and global clients including eBay, General Mills, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Mondelez, PepsiCo, Samsung and Visa.
Advertising Standards Board
We assist clients to respond to complaints lodged with the Advertising Standards Board by members of the public. Allens lawyers are also on the panel for the ASB Industry Jury.
ACCC investigations and s155 responses
We have acted for a number of clients in responding to s155 notices and investigations led by the ACCC and consumer protection agencies in relation to consumer law issues including misleding or deceptive conduct and complaints handling.
Vodafone
We advise on complaints in relation to Vodafone's advertising campaigns, and requests for information from the ACCC.
Beiersdorf
Advised on a number of disputes with Unilever, on issues including comparative advertising, and defending Federal Court misleading or deceptive conduct allegations (and we're now acting on the appeal).
Visa
We provide day to day clearance to Visa for all of its Australia and New Zealand campaigns, and strategic Asia Pacific regional campaigns. Working closely with global agency BBDO throughout the Asia Pacific, Visa receives a seamless regional service for all things advertising.
PepsiCo
We acted for PepsiCo in litigation against Coca-Cola, defending claims of trade mark infringement, passing off, and allegations of misleading or deceptive conduct.
Australian Olympic Committee
We have acted for the AOC in litigation against Telsta, and have also advised on brand protection and provided ambush marketing advice, including in relation to the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
eBay
We provide ongoing advice on copyright, trade mark and advertising issues and supporting eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program in Australia.
Sydney Trains
We advised Sydney Trains on a series of deals, worth $100 million over five years, to grant the rights to sell and install advertisements throughout train stations and on train carriages throughout Sydney.
Foxtel
We performed an audit of Foxtel's internal processes for producing and vetting advertising and promotional materials, with a view to reducing the risk that such material may contravene the ACL.
Avon
We provide consumer law reviews for cosmetic company Avon in relation to their monthly product categories.