Unfair Competition
General Principles, Interference With Business Relations, Trade Name, Trademark, Service Mark, And Trade Dress Infringement
Any fraudulent, deceptive, or dishonest trade practice that is prohibited by statute, regulation, or the COMMON LAW.
The law of unfair competition serves five purposes. First, the law seeks to protect the economic, intellectual, and creative investments made by businesses in distinguishing themselves and their products. Second, the law seeks to preserve the good will that businesses have established with consumers. Third, the law seeks to deter businesses from appropriating the good will of their competitors. Fourth, the law seeks to promote clarity and stability by encouraging consumers to rely on a merchant's good will and reputation when evaluating the quality of rival products. Fifth, the law seeks to increase competition by providing businesses with incentives to offer better goods and services than others in the same field.
Although the law of unfair competition helps protect consumers from injuries caused by deceptive trade practices, the remedies provided to redress such injuries are available only to business entities and proprietors. Consumers who are injured by deceptive trade practices must avail themselves of the remedies provided by state and federal CONSUMER PROTECTION laws. In general, businesses and proprietors injured by unfair competition have two remedies: injunctive relief (a court order restraining a competitor from engaging in a particular fraudulent or deceptive practice) and money damages (compensation for any losses suffered by an injured business).
CROSS-REFERENCES
Antitrust Law; Lanham Act; Monopoly; Noncompete Agreement; Tying Arrangement.
Additional topics
- Unfair Labor Practice - Banning The Permanent Replacement Of Economic Strikers: Fair Or Unfair?
- Unethical Conduct
- Unfair Competition - General Principles
- Unfair Competition - Interference With Business Relations
- Unfair Competition - Trade Name, Trademark, Service Mark, And Trade Dress Infringement
- Unfair Competition - Theft Of Trade Secrets And Infringement Of Copyrights And Patents
- Unfair Competition - False Advertising, Trade Defamation, And Misappropriation Of A Name Or Likeness
- Unfair Competition - A Simpler Definition
- Unfair Competition - Further Readings
- Other Free Encyclopedias
Law Library - American Law and Legal InformationFree Legal Encyclopedia: Umpire to Very pistol