Torys' advertising and marketing practitioners offer the full range of legal services that pertain to advertising and marketing. Our lawyers advise on marketing, distribution and supply arrangements, and we perform reviews of advertising materials for legal compliance. We also advise on a variety of promotional initiatives, such as contests. We have particular expertise in the regulated products sector (e.g., pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food and beverage products, cosmetics and nutritional products), which enables us to provide comprehensive advice on all of the regulatory issues affecting product research, testing, approval, post-approval compliance, pricing, advertising and correction/withdrawal/recall.
Our services include advice on
- all forms of promotional material in all media to ensure compliance with the Competition Act, Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, and Food and Drugs Act
- issues arising in connection with advertising to children, including content of advertisements and issues concerning consent
- comparative advertising claims, including the standards of evidence, the need for Canadian data and the use of competitors’ trademarks
- claim substantiation, including the need for adequate and proper testing
- social media marketing, including the use of online services such as Facebook and Twitter, and issues relating to third-party-generated content
- promotional contests, including developing and/or reviewing contest rules and entry forms, drafting releases and privacy compliance
- defending challenges raised by consumers or competitors, or initiating challenges against competitors, before the Advertising Standards Canada, the Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board or the Competition Bureau
- litigation, dispute resolution and arbitration of advertising disputes
- website terms of use and privacy policies
- compliance with distribution, marketing, packaging and labelling requirements for consumer products and services and regulated products (e.g., cosmetics, drugs, devices, natural health products and pest control products)
- compliance with Rx&D Canada’s Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies Code of Ethical Practices (for prescription drugs)
- registration and use of trademarks, including registrability searches, filing and prosecuting applications, tagline searches, use guidelines, licensing and enforcement
- domain names, including registration labelling reviews and “Canadianizing” labels
- product recalls