3 Examples of Unfair Competition – How To Protect Your Brand
Image: Pexels
Growing a business and establishing yourself in the industry is anything but easy. You work hard to grow your business and position yourself on the market. You do it for years, repeatedly, gaining trust among your customer base and steadily growing your reputation.
That’s why it hurts super hard when you notice other companies trying to take advantage of your good name and lure customers away using unfair trade practices.
Let’s dissect three common examples of unfair competition and ways you can protect your brand through the power of intellectual property.
#1 Trademark Infringement
One of the common examples of unfair practices copycats use to try to benefit from the reputation of established businesses is by using trademarks on counterfeit goods. But, it is even more frequent for them to create trademarks that mimic yours.
Trademark infringement creates confusion among the customers and can lead to weakening your brand.
Besides registering trademarks early, hiring a trademark infringement attorney is your best move. Sometimes, a well-put cease and desist letter will be enough for the infringer to stop the activities.
If they don’t, a trademark infringement lawsuit with injunctive relief can follow, and you will be able to protect your rights from unfair competition in court.
#2 Trade secrets theft
Your work methods, processes, and know-how are valuable, even if they are not protected by copyright or patent. Even if you don’t have such processes in place, if your customer list falls into the hands of your competitors, they will be able to gain a significant edge and even put you out of business.
Situations such as this can occur, especially when one of your employees decides to leave and go to one of your competitors or start their own business in the same field. That is why trade secret theft is a common example of deceptive trade practices.
But there are ways to prevent this type of wrongful business practice. Adding non-compete and trade secret clauses to your contracts and signing non-disclosure agreements is a good place to start and ensure that no valuable information will leak and be used against your business.
#3 False advertising
Sometimes, your competitors might not directly infringe your brand by using a similar logo or name but may use packaging or marketing materials similar to yours.
One way to protect your rights from misleading advertising is by registering a 3D trademark for your packaging and trademarking your color palettes and designs.
If you sell distinct physical products, you will benefit from registering the industrial designs you use to further strengthen your position in the industry.
Bottom line
The best way to deal with unfair business practices is to position your brand upfront by registering your intellectual property rights. Filing patent, trademark, copyright, and design registration requests will significantly fortify your position, making it much easier to protect your rights, on and off the court.
If you want to protect your business from unfair competition but are unsure how and where to start, contact us today.
