(A) No person shall engage in a deceptive trade practice when, in the course of the person’s business, vocation or occupation, the person does any of the following:
(1) Passes off goods or services as those of another;
(2) Causes likelihood of confusion or misunderstanding as to the source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or services;
(3) Causes likelihood of confusion or misunderstanding as to affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by, another;
(4) Uses deceptive representations or designations of geographic origin in connection with goods or services;
(5) Lists a fictitious business name in a local telephone directory that is published on or after the effective date of this amendment, in circumstances in which all of the following apply:
(a) The person’s fictitious business name is not registered as a trade name with, or its use as a fictitious name has not been reported to, the Secretary of State under R.C. §§ 1329.01 through 1329.10.
(b) The person’s listed fictitious business name misrepresents the geographic location of the person, because that name includes a reference to a political subdivision or another geographic area of this state, the person does not have business premises in that political subdivision or other geographic area from which the person sells, leases, rents or otherwise provides particular goods or services in this state, and the person’s use of that name causes a likelihood of confusion or misunderstanding by consumers as to the geographic location with which the consumers are dealing in the purchase, lease, rental, or other provision of, or will be dealing in the resolution of problems that may arise in connection with, particular goods or services.
(c) The local telephone directory listing of the person’s fictitious business name does not identify the political subdivision and, if the person is not located in this state, the state in which are located the person’s business premises with which consumers are dealing in the purchase, lease, rental, or other provision of, or will be dealing in the resolution of problems that may arise in connection with, particular goods or services.
(d) Telephone calls to the local telephone number listed for the person’s fictitious business name routinely are forwarded or otherwise transferred to business premises of the person that are located outside the calling area covered by the local telephone directory.
(6) Lists a fictitious business name in a directory assistance database on or after the effective date of this amendment, the circumstances described in divisions (A)(5)(a) and (b) of this section apply regarding the person’s listed fictitious business name, and telephone calls to the local telephone number listed for the person’s fictitious business name routinely are forwarded or otherwise transferred to business premises of the person that are located outside the local calling area;
(7) Represents that goods or services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities that they do not have or that a person has a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection that the person does not have;
(8) Represents that goods are original or new if they are deteriorated, altered, reconditioned, reclaimed, used, or secondhand;
(9) Represents that goods or services are of a particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a particular style or model, if they are another;
(10) Disparages the goods, services, or business of another by false representation of fact;
(11) Advertises goods or services with intent not to supply reasonably expectable public demand, unless the advertisement discloses a limitation of quantity;
(12) Makes false statements of fact concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amounts of price reductions;
(13) Advertises goods or services with intent not to supply reasonably expectable public demand, unless the advertisement discloses a limitation of quantity.
(B) In order to prevail in a civil action under R.C. § 4165.03 that seeks injunctive relief or an award of damages and that is based on one or more deceptive trade practices listed in division (A) of this section, a complainant need not prove competition between the parties to the civil action.
(C) This section does not affect unfair trade practices that are otherwise actionable at common law or under other sections of the Ohio Revised Code.
(D) A telephone company, provider of directory assistance, publisher of a local telephone directory, or officer, employee, or agent of the company, provider, or publisher shall not be liable in a civil action under R.C. § 4165.03 for publishing in any directory or directory assistance database the listing of a fictitious business name of a person who commits a deceptive trade practice that is listed in division (A) of this section unless the telephone company, provider of directory assistance, publisher of a local telephone directory, or officer, employee, or agent of the company, provider, or publisher is the person who committed the deceptive trade practice listed in division (A) of this section.
(R.C. § 4165.02)
(E) This section does not apply to either of the following:
(1) Conduct that is in compliance with the orders or rules of, or a statute administered by, a federal, state or local governmental agency;
(2) Publishers, broadcasters, printers, or other persons who are engaged in the dissemination of information or reproduction of printed or pictorial matter and who publish, broadcast, or reproduce material without knowledge of its deceptive character.
(F) Divisions (A)(2) and (A)(3) do not apply to the use of a service mark, trademark, certification mark, collective mark, trade name, or other trade identification that was used and not abandoned before September 25, 1969, if the use was in good faith and otherwise is lawful except for the provisions of this chapter.
(R.C. § 4165.04)
Statutory reference:
Injunctions and damages, see R.C. § 4165.03