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Understanding an unfair competitive advantage

by | Jan 27, 2019 | Business Litigation |

Most any business in Florida has some sort of competition and that makes it understandable that owners and management teams spend a good deal of energy on finding ways for their companies to outdo their competitors. This is part and parcel of a capitalist society and economy. However, there is a line between what is a reasonable and legal competitive advantage and what is an unreasonable and illegal competitive advantage.

As explained by Quora, a competitive advantage can generally be thought of as anything that allows one company to provide better value to its customers or clients than its competitors. This better value may come in the form of superior product quality, a more pleasing price, faster turnaround and service times or something else.

Some protections may be available to companies that allow them to prevent others from effectively responding to a particular advantage. An example of this would be a patent that precludes another company from producing a particular product in a particular fashion for a set period of time. It is possible, however, form a business advantage to be obtained via unethical or illegal means. This may contribute to allegations of an unfair competitive advantage.

According to FindLaw, a trademark infringement might represent one type of unfair competitive advantage. Publishing marketing materials that make inaccurate claims may also contribute to an unfair advantage in a business setting. Products created using secret information acquired via illegal or unethical means is another example of something that may connect to an unfair competitive advantage dispute.

 

 

 

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