Case law

  • Case Details
    • National ID: Ombudsman of the Consumer, 9th of August 2010 (Protocol No 1752)
    • Member State: Greece
    • Common Name:link
    • Decision type: Other
    • Decision date: 09/08/2010
    • Court: Ombudsman of the Consumer
    • Subject:
    • Plaintiff:
    • Defendant: Hellenic American University, Attico College and Global College
    • Keywords: false impression, misleading commercial practices, misleading statements, transactional decision
  • Directive Articles
    Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 4. Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Section 1, Article 6, 1.
  • Headnote
    Private schools that call themselves "university" or "college" may lead a consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise. The use of those terms is untruthful and misleading.
  • Facts
    The first defendant characterized itself with the word "university" in its distinctive title and in every public communication (web site, advertisement, promotions). The second and third institutions used the word "college" instead.
  • Legal issue
    It is misleading for a private school to characterize itself as a "university" or "college".
  • Decision

    Is it misleading for a private school to call itself a "university" or "college" in order to attract new students?

    Full text: Full text

  • Related Cases

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  • Legal Literature

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  • Result
    The Ombudsman of the Consumer recommended the private schools to refrain from similar public declarations, reports, advertisements, announcements, or promotions. It also requested the defendants to erase from their company name, public communications, etc. the distinctive title "university" / "college".