Whose Reliance Is It Anyway? Court Strikes Misleading Ad Claim

A misleading advertising claim brought by one bottled water supplier against a competitor can't hold water unless the plaintiff (not consumers) relied on the misrepresentation, the Ontario Superior Court held recently. The court relied on cases that require consumers to plead that they relied on misleading ads in order to recover damages. The court imposed this requirement on all plaintiffs without considering that a claim by a competitor is different from claim by a consumer. A misleading advertising claim by one competitor against another is based on losses caused when consumers (not the plaintiff competitor) rely on the misleading ads and shift business away from the plaintiff to the defendant.