Unfair competition is actions that are aimed at gaining certain advantages in a certain field of activity that are prohibited by applicable law. It can cause loss to a company that suffers from this phenomenon, or damage the business reputation.
These actions also include monopolization of the product market, which also affects enterprises operating in this market area.
The concept and forms of unfair competition are clearly stipulated in the legislative framework. If the concept has already been mentioned above, now we will list the forms of unfair competition. These, for example, include:
- Negotiating a company, disseminating knowingly false information that could cause losses to a competing company;
- distribution among consumers of information about the date, place of manufacture, properties of the goods that are produced by the affected company;
- incorrect comparison of their own goods with competitors' products, protrusion of nonexistent advantages;
- obtaining trade secrets and using them for their own purposes, the result of which is detrimental to a competing company;
- the use of a trademark for its own purposes, similar marking, copying the prevailing colors and design style.
It is fair to say that unfair competition is not common in all its forms, which are listed above. For example, prosperous campaigns do not seek to create their product image similar to a competing company. On the contrary, manufacturers are striving to create a look for their product that will be different from others so that consumers look for shelves on the product that stands out and does not become gray. So, experiments were conducted among milk producers. Standard white-blue tones have been used for dairy products for a year now. But when adding new, brighter colors, milk is sold much better. This is an example of fair competition, which by no means affected companies that did not try to modernize the packaging of their goods.
Unfair competition today is most often a conspiracy with the local authorities, which is obvious, however, it is almost impossible to disclose it. So, the local government often initiates endless checks, imposing bans and fines on those companies that are competitors. Exactly the same “contractual” background is now visible in tenders. Two enterprises deliberately agree on the conditions for its implementation and write contracts for their firms. It is often difficult to convict .
The question of trade secrets is quite complicated. Very often this concept is hypertrophied, and it refers to ... the prices that thousands of people see on the shelves near the goods. You can look at them, but you can’t rewrite them - supermarket employees strictly follow this.
Unfair competition entails administrative liability. Most often, fines are imposed on the guilty enterprise, they seize the available goods, are forced to compensate for the damage, to refute information that is not true. Most often they are dispensed with precautionary measures and stopping illegal actions.
Unfair competition is present in all countries of the world. However, the struggle against it is being conducted with varying success, so it is too early to talk about its eradication. Most often, as a result of unfair competition, the affected company takes measures to modernize its activities, which is a fairly powerful incentive for further transformations.