In Case C-310/15 VincentDeroo-Blanquart v Sony Europe Limited, the Court of Justice of theEuropean Union (CJEU) held that the sale of a computer equipped withpre-installed software does not in itself constitute an unfair commercialpractice within the meaning of Directive 2005/29/EC (the “Directive”).
The CJEU had been asked by theFrench Cour de Cassation to consider:
- Whether a commercial practice consisting of the sale of a computer equipped with pre-installed software without any option for the consumer to purchase the same model without the pre-installed software constituted an unfair commercial practice
- Whether, in the context of the combined offer of the sale, the failure to indicate the price of each item of software constituted a misleading commercial practice
The CJEU found, in response to thefirst question, that the sale of the computer equipped with pre-installedsoftware does not in itself constitute an unfair commercial practice when suchan offer is not contrary to the requirements of professional diligence and isnot likely to distort the economic behaviour of consumers.
In relation to the second question,the CJEU emphasised that a commercial practice will only be regarded asmisleading if it omits material information from the consumer, and, due to thefact that the price of each of those items of software could not be held toconstitute material information, the failure to indicate the price was notmisleading.
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Contributed by LeoMoore
