Unfair Competition Law

Unfair Competition Law

Unfair Competition Law

San Diego Law Firm

Gaston and Gaston

Unfair Competition Law

Intellectual property can be a key asset of many businesses. Whether your business is a technology based business, or a consumer product, intellectual property can be valuable. It is important to invest in the protection of your company's intellectual property. A failure to police and defend your intellectual property rights may result in a loss of those rights.

Unfair Competition (see also Unfair Competition in Business Torts)

The law of unfair competition describes various business torts that cause an economic injury to a business, through a deceptive or wrongful business practice. Unfair competition can be broken down into two broad categories. First, the term "unfair competition" may be used to refer only to those torts that are meant to confuse consumers as to the source of a product or service. Second, "unfair trade practices", constitutes all other forms of unfair competition.

In this context, unfair competition does not refer to the economic harms involving monopolies and antitrust legislation. What constitutes an "unfair" act varies with the type of business, the acts under scrutiny, and the facts of the specific case.

Most people are familiar with unfair competition in the form of trademark infringement. Another common type of unfair competition is misappropriation of an intangible assets not protected by trademark or copyright laws. There are various rights that can be subject to misappropriation such as trade secret, trade dress, right of publicity and rights of name and likeness. Other acts that may constitute unfair competition include false advertising, "bait and switch" selling, unauthorized substitution of one brand of goods for another, mislabeling of goods, use of confidential information by former employee to solicit customers, theft of trade secrets, breach of a restrictive covenant, unauthorized use of "know how", trade libel, and false representation of products or services.

The law of unfair competition is governed by state common law, and in some states, by state statute as well. In specific areas, such as trademarks, copyrights, and false advertising Federal law may apply and may pre-empt any contradictory state common or statutory law. In California, Section 17200 of the California Business and Professions Code creates a very broad rule against unfair business practices. This code section is often used as a "catch all" allegation in business related complaints and is alleged alongside many other chief causes of action.

For assistance with a case in which you believe unfair competition plays a part, contact the law firm of Gaston & Gaston APLC at 619-398-1882 today.

By Fred Gaston

http://www.GastonandGaston.com

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