Unfair competition is action,which are aimed at gaining certain advantages in a certain field of activity, which are prohibited by the current legislation. It can cause loss to a company that suffers from this phenomenon, or damage business reputation.
These actions include the monopolization of the product market, which also affects enterprises operating in this market area.
The concept and forms of unfair competitionclearly stipulated in the legislative framework. If the concept has already been mentioned above, now we list the forms of unfair competition. Such, for example, are:
- stipulation of the company, distribution of knowingly false information, which can cause losses to the competing company;
- dissemination among consumers of information about the date, place of manufacture, properties of the goods, which is produced by the affected company;
- incorrect comparison of own goods with competitors' goods, bulging out nonexistent pluses;
- obtaining commercial secrets and using it for their own purposes, the result of which causes damage to the competing company;
- the use of a trademark for their own purposes, similar labeling, copying of prevailing colors and style of design.
It is fair to note that the unscrupulousCompetition is not common in all its forms, which are listed above. So, for example, prosperous campaigns do not aspire to create their products an image similar to a firm-competitor. On the contrary, producers tend to create such a look for their product, which will differ from others, so that consumers look for products on the shelves that stand out, rather than become gray mass. Thus, experiments were conducted among milk producers. Standard blue and white tones are used yearly from the year when decorating dairy products. But with the addition of new, brighter colors, milk is sold much better. This is an example of fair competition, which did not affect the companies that did not try to modernize the packaging of their goods.
Unfair competition today most oftenis collusion with local authorities, which is obvious, however, it is almost impossible to disclose it. So, local authorities often initiate endless checks, imposing bans and fines on those companies that are competitors. Exactly the same "contractual" background is now visible in tenders. Two enterprises knowingly negotiate the terms of its holding and write contracts for their firms. It is often difficult to convict.
The question of commercial secrets is also quite complex.Very often this concept is hypertrophied, and it includes ... the prices that thousands of people see on the shelves near the goods. You can look at them, but you can not rewrite them - this is strictly followed by employees of supermarkets.
Unfair competition entailsadministrative responsibility. More often the fines are imposed on the guilty enterprise, they seize the available goods, force them to compensate for the damage, give a refutation to information that is not true. Most often, preventive measures and stopping of illegal actions are avoided.
Unfair competition is present in allcountries of the world. However, the struggle against it is conducted with varying success, so it is too early to speak about its eradication. Most often as a result of unfair competition, the affected enterprise applies measures to modernize its operations, which is a sufficiently powerful incentive for further reforms.
