Study of comparative commercial advertisements in Imamyah jurisprudence, Iranian and Indian law

Commercial advertising as one of the most important types of marketing in the world, has long been used in the global economy. However, today it has become a separate branch and a science and many people work in this field. Commercial advertising has a variety of types, such as visual, audiovisual and etc. (O'Guinn and others, 2018: p. 244). Comparative advertising is one of the commercial advertising methods that is widely used worldwide. This methid based on comparisons between goods, products and services offered by suppliers, and the advertiser is trying to encouraging customers to buy and use their own products and Through the market for these products by comparison of their products and services with other products and highlighting of their strengths. by this way, it will capture the market of this products. This type of advertising is actually designed to increase consumer awareness and allow them to choose and provide the best and most appropriate product and service they need. There have been many legal disputes over the legitimacy of this method of advertising in the laws of various countries, including Iran and India. Despite the prevalence of this type of commercial advertising and the legal implications of it, there is no specific provision about it in Iranian law.The Imamiyyah jurisprudence also does not contain a specific law in this regard and its governing rule should only be found in accordance with the general principles and religious principles of this method of advertising. In India, too, there is no specific law called comparative advertising law. Accordingly, the question of the present study is, what is the approach to the legitimacy of comparative commercial advertising in the law of the two countries, Iran and India, and the Imamiyyah jurisprudence?

this paper is written in a descriptive-analytical method, by using library resources. in this article we attempt to investigate the approach of the iranian and indian legal systems by considering of their aplicable law on comparative commercial advertising and finally compare the commonalities and differences between two systems.

Comparative advertising has been widely used in the United States for more than thirty years. (Romano, 2005, p. 371) "Comparative advertising is the technical advertising that uses image, sound, or printed expressions to directly or indirectly represent and compare the supplier's product or service and its competitors products in matters such as price, quality, features or characteristics and Unique compares. ”(De Jager, 1995: 67) There is no specific law in Iran's law about the comparative advertising. However, based on some of the prevailing principles and regulations, it is largely possible to identify the rules governing this type of advertising. These laws are: Principle 24 of the I.R.I Constitution, Article 45 of the General Policy Implementation of Article 44, Regulations of Establishment and Supervision Advertising Associations, Article 40 of the Trade and industrial Marks registration Law of 2007, Consumer Protection Act 2009 and Environmental Advertising Policies and Rules law 2009.In Indian law there is no specific law on comparative commercial advertising. In the past, the scope of comparative advertising in this country was very limited. However, the growth of this type of advertising in other countries and the Understanding its Benefits, changed the attitude of the legal community towards comparative advertising. The laws and regulations governing comparative advertising in the country include: Article 19 of the Constitutional law of India, the Consumer Protection Act of 1986, the Trade Marks Act of 1999 and the Competition Act. There is no discussion about the comparative advertising in the writings of the Imamyah jurists. However, the legitimacy of this type of advertising can be deduced from the general principles and Imamiyah jurisprudence Rules. According to the jurisprudents opinion, if there is any doubt about the practicality and legitimacy of a specific act like comparative advertising, only disapproval of the legislator is sufficient to ensure that the act is lawful. In the various jurisprudential books on the Prohibited earnings or jobs, none of the jurisprudents has banned using of advertising methodes. It is also understood from some traditions that the advertising  of goods and services was acceptable in Imams opinion because they merely referred to some of the Sharia requirements in this regard and they did not prohibit the using of advertising methods. Accordingly, it can be argued that comparative advertising is legal by following the rules prescribed in jurisprudence books as long as it does not due to misleading of consumers by false information or affect the rights of other competitors in an illegal manner or provide false information about their products or put their business credentials at risk.

Comparative advertising is one of the new and popular ways of advertising goods and  services in the worldwide which is more prevalent in India. This method of advertising is based on a comparison of the goods and services of supplier's in characteristics, price, quality, and warranty period. despite of the necessity to pay attention to the various legal aspects of this method of advertising, there is no specific provision for it in Iranian law, but it can be legal based on certain constitutional principles and the scattered rules contained in the laws adopted by the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the laws of the Revolutionary Council And the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution's approvals, and its legitimacy was accepted if the legal and religious conditions were met. There is no special law in the Indian legal system about comparative advertising as in Iran. Also there is some laws such as Article 19 of the constitutional law, prohibition of monopoly and restrictive business law, consumer protection law and the trademarks Law that can be used to resolve comparative advertising lawsuits, There is a strong need for a special law on comparative advertising in the India. Because in the lack of a specific law and lack of clarity of its legal scope, law enforcement authorities, courts, investigators, and consumers of goods and services often face the simple question of how comparative commercial advertising is allowed and witch kind of effects it will have. However, the difference between Iranian and Indian law is that in Iranian law due to the lack of explicit and specific legal resolve for comparative advertising, pursuant to Principal 167 of the Constitution and Article 3 of the Civil Procedure Law, to find the Commercial advertising Legal Status and Governing Rules should refer to authentic sources of jurisprudence, but in Indian law there is no such solution and the judicial process must find a solution according to the existing rules. even though the specific title of the jurisprudence books is not devoted to the discussion of comparative commercial advertising, In Imamiyyah jurisprudence, commercial advertising can be regarded as legitimate on the basis of Asalato Al-Ebaha’. In addition, the practical approach of the Imams and the promotion of commercial  advertising of goods and products among Muslims can also confirm the legitimacy of commercial advertising. Accordingly, as long as comparative advertising is not applicable to one of the forbidden businesses such as the sale of a forbidden product, falsehood, cheaping, infringement on the rights of others etce... it shall be legal and valid. However, it should be borne in mind that the legitimacy of comparative advertising does not mean lake of civil liability for damages. Accordingly, it will be liable for damages to others if the title of the illicit harmful act applies to the act of the advertiser.