Environmental claims in advertising

Produced in partnership with Sonal Patel Oliva of Fieldfisher and David Bond of Fieldfisher

Practice notes

Environmental claims in advertising

Produced in partnership with Sonal Patel Oliva of Fieldfisher and David Bond of Fieldfisher

Practice notes

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: On 24 May 2024, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill received Royal Assent, becoming the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA 2024) and coming partly into force on that date. DMCCA 2024, s 251 (which is not yet in force) will revoke the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR 2008), SI 2008/1277 and will also increase the Competition and Markets Authority’s powers to investigate trends and suspected breaches of consumer protection legislation. These changes affect this Practice Note. Once revoked, the provisions presently contained in the CPUTR 2008 will be replaced by Part 4 of DMCCA 2024 (which largely replicates the requirements of the CPUTR 2008). The Advertising Standards Authority is also consulting on necessary updates to the Advertising Codes to reflect DMCCA 2024. See: LNB News 06/01/2025 43. These changes affect this Practice Note and it will be updated in due course.

For a detailed comparison of the CPUTR 2008 and Part 4 of DMCCA 2024, see Practice Note: The Digital Markets,

Sonal Patel Oliva

Director, Fieldfisher

Sonal is a legal director in the Commercial & Advertising group at Fieldfisher. She has extensive experience as an advertising, consumer protection and commercial lawyer acting for domestic and international brands and public sector clients. She advises clients on all of forms of media and across a variety of sectors, including retail, food & beverage, travel & leisure, sport, beauty, health and life sciences.

Her work involves advising clients on advertising and consumer protection regulatory compliance and developing, promoting and protecting their business, brands, IP, products and services via B2B and B2C marketing campaigns and activations, the use of influencers and brand ambassadors, user generated content, loyalty and reward programmes, promotional incentives, such as prize promotions and pricing claims. Sonal also advises clients on defending and pursuing advertising complaints and appeals, and on the contract side, she drafts, negotiates and advises on consumer facing terms, sponsorship, licensing, brand extension, agency, influencer and other commercial contracts.

Sonal works closely with clients' legal and marketing teams, taking a commercial approach to provide tailored advice, workshops and guidance that suits their business needs. Sonal has invaluable commercial experience via secondments to in-house legal teams at broadcasters, online travel companies and utilities companies and takes a pragmatic approach.

Sonal also operates the members' advertising legal hotline for the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), with her colleague, David Bond.

Sonal continues to be individually mentioned as a leading practitioner in legal directories, Chambers and the Legal 500 and is part of a team, top-ranked for advertising and marketing, commercial contracts and franchising.

David Bond

Partner, Fieldfisher

David Bond is a partner in the Commercial IP group at law firm, Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, specialising in Brand Management, advising clients on ways to promote and commercially exploit their brands and other intellectual property.

As head of the firm’s Advertising and Marketing Group David assists clients to develop awareness of their brand, specifically advising on all forms of marketing communication and promotional activity, both in the traditional media of print, TV and radio and increasingly online, within a client’s own website and third party social media sites and mobile.

David’s clearance work involves advising both advertisers and their agencies on advertising copy, dealing with the industry regulators and lodging and defending ASA complaints. On the contract side, David drafts and negotiates a wide variety of commercial agreements on behalf of advertisers and agencies, such as client/agency contracts, endorsement/merchandise contracts, venue hires and sponsorship agreements. David has also structured and drafted the relevant terms for numerous loyalty reward programmes.

David also advises on the legality of all forms of sales promotion and drafts terms and conditions for both free prize draws (sweepstakes) and skill based competitions and related handling house and redemption contracts.

David has advised both the Advertising Association (AA) and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), operating the latter’s advertising legal hotline for its members.

David is also a specialist franchise lawyer and member of the firm’s leading franchise practice, advising a broad range of clients to use franchising as a means of corporate expansion both in the UK and overseas, with a particular focus on the retail, food and beverage and services sectors. David is the co-author of the Franchise, Agency and Distribution volume of Butterworths “Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents”.

David is the only UK lawyer to be ranked by the legal directory Chambers 2012 as a leading expert in both franchising and advertising and marketing.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Advertising definition

What does Advertising mean?

Advertising is defined very broadly to encompass any form of representation that is made in connection with business in order to promote the supply or transfer of a product.

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Environmental claims in advertising

Produced in partnership with Sonal Patel Oliva of Fieldfisher and David Bond of Fieldfisher