Colombia enacted a new Unfair Competition law which entered into effect on January 18, 1997. The law specifically refers to Colombia's obligations under Article 10bis of the Paris Convention, and the provisions summarized below may be of particular interest to our clients.
Unfair competition is defined as "any act or deed carried out in the market for purposes of competition when it is contrary to sound mercantile usages, to the principle of commercial good faith, to honest practices in industrial and commercial matters, or, otherwise, when it is intended to affect or when it does in fact affect the free decision of the buyer or consumer, or the competitive operation of the marketplace."
An act of unfair competition may include, specifically, conduct which adversely influences customers away from competitors; adversely affects the internal functioning of an enterprise; creates confusion; misleads the public either by commission or omission; discredits an enterprise; uses incorrect or misleading comparisons; systematically imitates the operations of a competitor in order to interfere with his market position; results in the acquisition, disclosure or exploitation of trade secrets; or induces a breach of contract between a competitor and its contracting parties. Exploiting another's reputation, including "the use of another's distinctive signs or of false or deceitful denominations of origin" may also constitute unfair competition.
The new law provides that injured parties may obtain preliminary injunctions against unfair competition, where the act of unfair competition has been proven to have occurred, as well as preventative injunctions, where the act of unfair competition has not yet occurred and no damages have yet been suffered.
The statute of limitations for initiating an action for unfair competition is 2 years from discovery of the act, or, in any event, 3 years from the conduct of the act itself.
It is hoped that this new law will provide additional means whereby intellectual property owners, including owners of trade dress, may enforce their rights in Colombia.
