PPG settles advertising claim brought by ICI

ICI Paints AkzoNobel has announced that it has reached an out of court resolution of the High Court claim it brought against PPG Industries in relation to its Johnstone’s Trade ‘No. 1’ campaign.

The advertising, part of its wider Best by Test campaign, drew direct comparisons between products within the Dulux Trade portfolio and those from PPG’S Johnstone’s Trade range, and was challenged by ICI Paints AkzoNobel’s legal team in relation to the claims made.

Guy Williams, Managing Director, UK & Ireland, Decorative Paints, confirmed: “In the circumstances, we felt we had no option other than to bring proceedings to protect the Dulux Trade brand. This settlement means that ICI Paints AkzoNobel has achieved all its objectives – specifically that PPG has agreed to stop the advertising in question and to make no further improper use of our slogans or paint tin liveries.

“PPG has also dropped its counterclaim, and agreed to change its comparative advertising going forward and to ensure that the claims it makes comply with relevant advertising rules.”

ICI Paints AkzoNobel believed the campaign to be misleading and otherwise non-compliant with the rules governing comparative advertising, and so launched legal action in February 2010. Specifically, it was ICI Paints AkzoNobel’s case that PPG’s advertising wrongly implied that Johnstone’s paints were generally superior to those in the Dulux Trade range. ICI Paints AkzoNobel also believed that the advertisements did not make it sufficiently clear the type of paints which were the subject of the comparison, that the comparison failed to take account of relevant and material factors, and that PPG denigrated the Dulux Trade trademark and slogans. PPG denied the claim.