JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS same rules apply as for goods in general. Great care should, however, be taken in the writing of advertising copy, as if it contains a false description the Acts may apply to it, although there has so far been no decision on how far a trade description used in an advertisement can be said to be applied to goods. Section 5 of the 1953 Act merely states that a description shall be deemed to be a trade description applied to goods if it is used in any manner likely to lead to the belief that the goods in connection with which it is used are designated or described by that trade mark or trade description. In other words, this means that a statement used in relation to goods is deemed to be a trade description if it designates or describes those goods. To get some idea of the effect of this clause we can look to Canada, where such a provision has been in force for some time. The owners of a Toronto department store inserted an advertisement which stated that on Saturday they would sell for six dollars "tea sets, 4 pieces, quadruple plate, handsomely engraved, regular price twelve dollars a set." A customer, having first asked if a set was one of those advertised as "quadruple plate" and being assured by the saleswoman that it was, and that he could rely on the adver- tisement, bought one of these tea sets. The set was not in fact quadruple plate, and the defendants were charged with possessing goods to which a false trade description was applied. The Court decided that as, in previous cases, invoices accompanying goods had been held to be within the Act, the advertisement was also within the Act, as the description in this case was used in a manner likely to lead people to think that the goods mentioned were described by it. In another Canadian case the defendants, in a newspaper advertisement, stated that they had "BVD" underwear for sale. "BVD" was a registered trade mark. In fact they had no underwear of the "BVD" brand, and were accordingly convicted on the ground that the advertisement was intended to refer to goods which were not "BVD," and so it was a false application of the trade mark. If our Act is applied in a similar way to that in Canada, it would therefore seem that the manufacturer of branded goods who inserts a trade description in an advertisement will be deemed to have applied the description to the goods, and will accordingly be liable under the Acts if it is false. It is a more complicated question to decide whether a trader who sells these goods, although he had no part in the advertisement, is also guilty of selling goods "to which a false trade description is applied." As the object of the Act is to prevent goods from being sold in such circumstances, it would appear that the trader would be guilty of this offence. This is not necessarily hard on the trader, for if he is ignorant of the issue of the adver- tisement he can plead in defence that he acted innocently, while if he knew of the advertisement, but had no reason to suspect the genuineness of the 224

THE MERCHANDISE MARKS ACT description in it, he will be able, if he had taken certain reasonable precau- tions, to plead these facts in defence. Another part of the Act, which is not new, but has been in force since 1938, also deals with trade descriptions in advertisements, but in a somewhat different way. This section lays down that if goods are delivered in pursuance of a request made by reference to a trade mark or trade description appearing in any sign, advertisement, invoice, wine list, business letter, business paper or other commercial communication, then those goods shall be deemed to be goods in connection with which the trade mark or trade description is used. Before this clause can be invoked it must be proved that the description had been used in a manner likely to lead to the belief that the goods are described by the trade description. A simple illustration is the waiter who hands you a wine list, from which you order, say, a French wine, but get something which does not comply with the description in the list, such as an Algerian wine. Here is a false trade description, for you have been led to believe that the list described the wine you expected to get. An offence under this section would also arise when a suite of furniture advertised as made of walnut turns out to be composed of another wood with a walnut veneer. A more difficult position arises when a customer enters a chemist's shop brandishing an advertisement of a nationally advertised hair restorer, which is of course a trade description here it is probable, but not certain, that the chemist is guilty of an offence the manufacturer, of course, certainly will be guilty. There has been some discussion upon whether this provision will affect wireless and television advertising. There is a case for saying that if goods are delivered in pursuance of a request made by reference to an advertisement over this medium of advertising they will fall within the Act, even though, contrary to the general rule, the descriptions relating to the goods are purely oral. It will be for the Courts to decide whether this theory is correct. The position is rather confused, but it is quite clear that an offence will arise when goods are delivered in response to a request which specifically refers to the trade description in the advertisement, as happened in the Canadian cases I have mentioned. In the case of mail order advertisers, there is no doubt about the occa- sioning of the offence, not only because of the advertisement, but also both because of the application of a false trade description, and of the sale of goods to which a false trade description has been applied. Puffs in advertisements are unlikely to be affected by the Act. The phrases "best quality" or "beer is best" are really meaningless, there being no standard by which to compare the goods. So also are the equally mean- ingless phrases "X petrol gives more miles per gallon," "she turned to Y for the cleanest wash of all," "double active skin vitaliser." But care must be taken in the use of slogans they may not be misleading to an expert, but 225