Unlawful Trade Practices

Unfair trade practices are illegal in Oregon, and if you are damaged by an unfair act or practice, you may be entitled to compensation.

The freedom to pursue a livelihood, operate a business, and otherwise compete in the marketplace is essential to any free enterprise system. Competition creates incentives for businesses to earn customer loyalty by offering quality goods at reasonable prices. At the same time, competition can also inflict harm. The freedom to compete gives businesses the right to lure customers away from each other. When one business entices enough customers away from competitors, those rival businesses may be forced to shut down or move.

Some are surprised to learn that the victims of unfair and deceptive trade practices are often competing businesses, in addition to the consumers who are mislead.  When you think about it, false advertising, or misrepresenting the quality of goods is harmful to both consumers and to businesses who are trying to compete honestly.  Consumers are harmed by because they don't get what they pay for, while honest businesses are harmed because the business that violates the law is “cheating” in a way that takes business away from the honest competitor.  If a business owner can prove that a dishonest competitor is taking away business through unfair or deceptive means, the honest business may have a claim.

Businesses sometimes have claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, such as cost data, customer lists, formulas, and business methods or techniques.  A business may also have a claim for trademark infringement or the act of another business to disparage goods or services. Still other times, claims arise when a person or business tortiously interferes with the contracts or business opportunities of another.

In addition, there are a number of claims that fall under the rubric  of “antitrust” violations.  Price fixing, price discrimination, refusals to deal, division of markets, tying arrangements and monopolization are some of the specific kinds of violations that can cause damage to businesses and fair competition.  The law of unfair competition will not penalize a business merely for being successful in the marketplace. Nor will the law impose liability simply because a business is aggressively marketing its product. The law assumes, however, that for every dollar earned by one business, a dollar will be lost by a competitor. Accordingly, the law prohibits a business from unfairly profiting at a competitor's expense.

If your business has been damaged by any of these kinds of activities, contact me and we can discuss whether you might have a viable claim.