Dyson faces legal action over vacuum cleaner ads

LG Electronics is taking legal action against British electronic company Dyson over an advertisement in Australia that claims that Dyson’s vacuum cleaner is “the most powerful cordless vacuum,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.

The ad says that Dyson’s V6 has “twice the suction power of all cordless vacuums,” a claim that LG says misleads consumers. LG says its cordless vacuum cleaner, Cord Zero Cyking, has more powerful suction.

LG Electronics has requested an injunction on the ad from Australia’s federal court.

The Korean consumer electronics maker said that LG’s product is clearly superior since the Cyking motor is 200 watts while the competing model by Dyson is only 100 watts.

When asked why it didn’t take legal action in other countries, a spokesperson for LG Electronics said that the company is looking at countries where the Cord Zero Cyking is sold.

LG put its latest cordless vacuum cleaner on sale in September in Australia.

“Since the Cord Zero has yet to go on sale globally, we are focused on countries where the Cord Zero Cyking sells - and if Dyson is running its commercial,” the spokesperson said.

More than 10,000 Cord Zero Cykings were sold in the first five months of this year and the model is one of the top sellers in the cordless vacuum market.

This is not the first time that LG has accused competitors of false advertisements. LG Electronics filed a lawsuit in the United States in 2008 alleging that Whirlpool made false claims in advertisements for its Duet, Cabrio and Maytag Bravo steam dryers. LG said those models did not produce or use steam. The U.S. Court ruled in favor of Whirlpool.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]