Practice Areas & Industries: Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Unfair trade practices encompass a broad array of torts, all of which involve economic injury brought on by deceptive or wrongful conduct. The legal theories that can be asserted include claims such as trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, false advertising, palming-off, dilution and disparagement, and may be governed by common law as well as federal and state statute and regulation. Unfair trade practices can arise in any field of technology and frequently appear in connection with the more traditional intellectual property claims of patent, trademark and copyright infringement.

At Fitzpatrick, the unfair trade practices group is an inter-disciplinary group of attorneys practicing in all areas of intellectual property. Because of this range of experience, companies of all sizes - from those that are household names to the start-ups in emerging markets - rely on us to protect what are often their most valuable assets. Our attorneys counsel these clients to help avoid potential problems through the implementation of appropriate safeguards and the diligent monitoring of competitors' activities. If a dispute does arise, clients count on us to enforce their rights, whether it involves litigating in court, arguing before the United States International Trade Commission, or proceeding in a domain name dispute under the ICANN arbitration procedures.