Texas Business and Commerce Code 621.105 – Prohibited Acts Relating to Matched Contest
Terms Used In Texas Business and Commerce Code 621.105
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
A person engaged in the preparation, promotion, sale, distribution, or use of a matched contest may not:
(1) use the term “prize” or a similar term in a false, misleading, or deceptive manner;
(2) represent in soliciting a person to enter or participate in the contest that the person is a “finalist,” “major award winner,” “grand prize recipient,” or “winner” or that a person has “won,” “will win,” or “will be awarded” or use words or phrases of similar meaning unless the representation is true;
(3) represent that a prize has a sponsor, approval, characteristic, ingredient, use, benefit, quantity, status, affiliation, connection, or identity that the prize does not have;
(4) represent that a prize is of a particular standard, quality, grade, style, or model if the prize is of another;
(5) misrepresent the odds of winning a prize;
(6) misrepresent the rules or terms of participation in the contest;
(7) represent that:
(A) a number, ticket, coupon, symbol, or entry form confers or will confer an advantage on a person that another person does not have or has a value that other entries do not have; or
(B) a person is more likely to win a prize than another person;
(8) fail to obtain a person’s express written consent before using that person’s name for a promotional purpose;
(9) use or distribute simulated checks or currency or other simulated items of value unless the words “SPECIMEN–NON-NEGOTIABLE” are clearly and conspicuously printed on those items in at least 18-point type; or
(10) use a word or phrase that:
(A) simulates or causes confusion with a document issued by an officer of a court or with the seal or name of a real or fictitious governmental entity; or
(B) implies that the offeror is sending a court document or legal document or that the offeror is a governmental entity.