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Unfair competition covers a multitude of bad business conduct

| Aug 31, 2017 | Commercial Disputes |

Like individuals, businesses can suffer harm and losses when they are victimized by other corporate entities. In New York, a business may claim that it has suffered from unfair competition practices if the actions of another organization resulted in the victim business losing money or commercial opportunities. This post will discuss several of the legal actions that may be considered unfair competition in the business setting but readers are cautioned that its content is not comprehensive. A deeper investigation of unfair competition should be taken up with business attorneys familiar with readers’ legal problems.

One example of unfair competition is the selling or stealing of a company’s trade secrets. A trade secret is a piece of information that is particular to an organization and that helps it distinguish its brand from others. If that information was given to a competitor, the harmed business could lose money as its trade secret was made public.

Another example of unfair competition in business is the unauthorized use of a company’s trademarks. Certain corporate symbols like McDonald’s golden arches and Starbucks’ green circular emblem are iconic and ingrained in the branding of the companies’ products. When competitors use other businesses trademark symbols, they may take business away from the original entities and cause them economic harm.

Unfair competition can harm consumers as well. Bad business practices can result in consumers being tricked into buying products that were not advertised or services that do not fulfill the promises made by the companies selling them. When unfair competition occurs, though, victims can initiate commercial disputes to seek compensation for their losses and remedy the problems caused by the commercial harm.