Sale of Computer Equipped with Pre-installed Software not an Unfair Commercial Practice
![]()
The CJEU has found that selling a computer with pre-installed software is not an unfair commercial practice
In Case C-310/15 Vincent
Deroo-Blanquart v Sony Europe Limited, the Court of Justice of the
European Union (CJEU) held that the sale of a computer equipped with
pre-installed software does not in itself constitute an unfair commercial
practice within the meaning of Directive 2005/29/EC (the "Directive").
The CJEU had been asked by the
French 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 the
first question, that the sale of the computer equipped with pre-installed
software does not in itself constitute an unfair commercial practice when such
an offer is not contrary to the requirements of professional diligence and is
not 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 as
misleading if it omits material information from the consumer, and, due to the
fact that the price of each of those items of software could not be held to
constitute material information, the failure to indicate the price was not
misleading.
Follow us on Twitter @WFIDEA
Contributed by Leo
Moore
Back to Legal News