Exercise Caution When Using Supplier-Provided Promotional Material
Martin Algie wrote an Opinion piece for The Australian Financial Review that appeared on Tuesday, 8 April, discussing the difficulties for local distributors, particularly those who have a limited knowledge of the technicalities of the product they are importing. The overarching lesson is that the law is at the point that, if a distributor can have products tested by independent experts to confirm claims and representations made in marketing materials without incurring unreasonable costs, those tests should be performed.
Trends In Franchise Disputes
In our franchise practice, we have noticed a spate of large scale disputes between franchisors and groups of their franchisees. Strategically, franchisees want to exploit the mediation provisions of their respective franchise agreements as a group to create a show of strength. From a franchisor's perspective, they can resist that demand as there is nothing either in the Franchising Code of Conduct or (generally) in their franchise agreements that compels them to do so. Franchisees should consider, however, the strategic advantage in not grouping together, but by each franchisee timing its dispute notice in order to maximise pressure on the franchisor. These strategic decisions are complex and should be worked through with your lawyer.
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