Misleading comparisons that harm a competitor

An enterprise sets its goods or services alongside a competitor's — by naming the competitor, by clear reference, or by obvious innuendo — in a way that creates a false impression and damages the competitor's reputation. Comparative advertising is not prohibited. An accurate, precise comparison helps the customer and is a legitimate tool of competition. What this clause forbids is a comparison that distorts the truth. For example, the maker of a steam iron prints on the box that its product is more powerful than a named competitor's. But an independent measurement, using the very standard cited on the box, shows the competitor's iron to be equal or even superior. Or the maker of a storage bag runs an advertisement: a live fish in the competitor's sealed bag loses water drop by drop, while the maker's own bag holds firm. The advertisement portrays a rapid, permanent leak as an ordinary characteristic of the competitor's product, when in reality it is not.