Subject: Colcom in Court Over Hand Towels
Date: Published: 2/25/92 (42 lines)
Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

    Law -- Legal Beat:
    Remark to Jury on Appeals Ruled
    Improper by State's Highest Court
    ----
    By Ellen Joan Pollock and Junda Woo
    Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal

[73 lines irrelevant to AIDS removed.  -- sysop]

    NOVEL MARKETING IDEA lands Colcom International S. A. in
 French court.
    The Paris-based concern introduced two years ago the
 Korettie brand of moist, disposable hand towels of the kind
 often handed out on airplanes.  The packaging indicated that
 the towels would deodorize, disinfect and even provide
 protection against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.  
    That last claim was one too many for the Union Federale
 des Consommateurs, a French consumer-protection group.  Along
 with two organizations representing AIDS victims, the union
 recently filed a suit against Colcom, charging it with false
 advertising.  The three groups seek damages totaling 300,000
 French francs ($53,000).
    The suit accuses Colcom of exaggerating the efficacity of
 the towels against the virus and of misleading the public
 about how AIDS is spread.
    Jean Neu, a lawyer representing Colcom, maintained that
 the company had scientific support for its claim that a
 chemical solution used in the towels is effective against the
 virus in certain circumstances.  He also said that Colcom
 acted in good faith and didn't deliberately mislead the
 public.  But he said that he believed the company shouldn't
 have included the anti-HIV claim and that it plans to change
 the packaging.
    The court is due to render a judgment March 3.

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