Protection of Trade Marks against Unfair Competition

The law of prohibition of unfair competition prohibits any deed or action which is against the normal competition in the market. Before emergence of special laws for protection of intellectual property rights, including trademarks, such right could be protected either by tort law claims or law of unfair competition. However, the law of prohibition of unfair competition covers a wider area than trademarks and intellectual property rights. Nonetheless, the emergence of special rules and laws for protection of intellectual property rights has not made the use of laws of unfair competition obsolete. The law of prohibition of unfair competition functions as a supplementary mechanism for protection of intellectual property rights such as trademarks. The reason for this is that the special rules on protection of intellectual property rights are not always available as they offer protection when certain conditions are met. In those cases where the special rules are not available, then the law of prohibition of unfair competition could be relied on to protect trademarks.