Competition is a normal part of doing business. A competitor may lower its prices, improve its products, advertise more effectively, or persuade customers to choose its services instead of yours. Losing business to a competitor does not, by itself, mean that the competitor has done something illegal.
However, tortious interference under Florida law occurs when a competitor intentionally and without justification interferes with your business relationship or contract and causes harm to your business. A competitor may interfere with your customer relationships, make deceptive claims, misuse confidential information, spread false statements about your business, or engage in conduct that unlawfully harms competition.
If you own or operate a business and believe a competitor is crossing that line, the team at J Haskins Law can explain what may apply, and what you can do next. We’ll cover tortious interference claims, Florida’s Single Action Rule, deceptive business practices under FDUTPA, trade secret theft, defamation and trade libel, the remedies that may be available, and the practical steps to take when a competitor’s conduct is harming your business.
Can You Sue a Competitor for Interfering With Your Business Relationships, Customers, or Contracts?
Florida law recognizes claims for tortious interference with an existing contract, a contractual relationship, or prospective economic advantage. Importantly, the business relationship at issue does not always have to involve an enforceable contract.
Generally, the plaintiff must prove the elements of such claims:
• A business relationship. The first element is a valid existing contract or a business expectancy; to prove interference based on prospective economic advantage, the expectancy must be realistic rather than speculative.
• Knowledge. The competitor must have known about that relationship.
• Intentional and unjustified interference. The competitor must have intentionally and improperly interfered with the relationship.
• Damage. The interference must have caused harm to the business.
For example, simply offering a customer a better deal is generally part of ordinary competition. The analysis may be different if one party knowingly uses false accusations or misrepresentations to induce or persuade other parties to breach a contract, because interference with an existing contract occurs when that breach is caused. fair competition remains permitted unless the conduct becomes improper.
There are also important limitations. A defendant generally cannot be liable for interfering with a relationship if it is not legally considered a stranger to that relationship. Florida law also recognizes a qualified privilege for businesses acting to protect their own financial interests. However, that protection may be lost when a competitor acts with a purely malicious motive or uses improper methods, such as misrepresentations or false accusations. The plaintiff must handle a high burden of proof in these cases, and liability depends on showing intentional, unjustified interference rather than ordinary competition.
What Is Florida’s Single Action Rule?
Under Florida’s Single Action Rule, a single publication generally gives rise to a single cause of action. A plaintiff cannot necessarily take the same allegedly defamatory publication and turn it into several separate claims simply by describing the resulting harm differently.
For example, if a tortious interference claim is based entirely on the same false statement underlying a defamation or disparagement claim, the plaintiff may not be able to use tortious interference to avoid the defenses or limitations that would apply to the defamation claim.
This does not mean that tortious interference and defamation can never arise in the same dispute. An interference claim supported by independent wrongful conduct may be treated differently. The important question is whether the claims actually arise from separate conduct or merely attempt to recover for the same publication under different legal labels.
Can You Sue a Competitor for Deceptive Business Practices?
Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) prohibits unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in trade or commerce. FDUTPA is not limited to claims brought by individual consumers. Businesses may also be able to bring claims when a competitor’s unfair or deceptive practices cause them harm.
A claim for damages generally requires a deceptive act or unfair practice, causation, and actual damages. Depending on the circumstances, other relief may also be available. Florida law permits anyone aggrieved by a qualifying violation to seek declaratory or injunctive relief, while a person who has suffered a loss may potentially recover actual damages.
Injunctions can be particularly important in competitor disputes. Even when a business cannot recover certain losses as actual damages under FDUTPA, it may potentially seek an order stopping deceptive conduct that is causing consumer confusion or loss of goodwill.
What If a Competitor Steals Your Trade Secrets?
A different set of laws may apply when a competitor obtains or uses confidential business information.
Under the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act, a trade secret includes information that has economic value because it is not generally known and that the business has taken reasonable steps to keep it secret.
Trade secret disputes may involve confidential business information obtained through theft, misrepresentation, breach of a duty to maintain secrecy, or other improper means. A Florida trade secret claim generally requires a business to establish that it possessed a trade secret and that the information was misappropriated.
This makes protecting confidential information before a dispute arises particularly important. If a business treats information as freely available or fails to take reasonable steps to protect it, establishing that the information qualifies as a trade secret may become more difficult. Litigation can also create discovery risks, as public filings or disclosures may expose sensitive business data to competitors if precautions are not taken.
Potential remedies under Florida law include injunctions, damages for actual loss and unjust enrichment, or in appropriate circumstances a reasonable royalty.
Can a Competitor Be Liable for a Defamation Claim for Lying About Your Business?
Yes. Defamation includes written and spoken false statements and can support a defamation claim when a defamatory statement harms a person’s reputation or business interests.
Because a corporation does not have a personal reputation in the same sense as an individual’s person’s reputation, the relevant injury concerns its business, property, or credit. False statements that prejudice a company in its trade or discourage others from doing business with it may therefore potentially be defamatory.
However, not every negative statement about a competitor is defamatory. A statement generally must be capable of being proven true or false, and pure opinion is usually protected. In addition, truth is a complete defense. Whether a statement constitutes fact or protected opinion depends on its content and context. A plaintiff asserting defamation usually must show the defendant published the allegedly defamatory statement. The applicable rules can vary by state law and court decisions.
What Is Trade Libel or a Defamatory Statement?
A business may also encounter claims described as trade libel, disparagement, or injurious falsehood. Unlike traditional defamation, which protects reputation, these claims are directed more specifically toward economic interests.
One significant requirement is proof of special damages. A business generally must identify a realized or liquidated financial loss, such as specific lost sales, rather than merely alleging that the value of the business declined.
This can create an important evidentiary issue. It may not be enough to establish that a competitor made a false statement. A business may also need evidence connecting the statement to customers and showing that the statement actually caused an identifiable economic loss.
What Remedies May Be Available if You Must Prove Actual Malice?
The appropriate remedy depends on the type of conduct involved and the potential damages available under each claim. A tortious interference claim may provide compensation for losses caused by the disruption of a business relationship. FDUTPA may provide damages or injunctive relief. Trade secret laws can permit courts to stop the use or disclosure of protected information and award damages. Defamation and trade libel claims may provide compensation for qualifying reputational or economic harm.
In some cases, punitive damages may also be available for particularly malicious or egregious conduct.
In some situations, stopping the conduct may be as important as recovering money for losses that have already occurred. Injunctive relief may therefore be particularly significant when a competitor’s conduct is ongoing, such as continuing consumer confusion or the continued disclosure of trade secrets.
What Should You Do If a Competitor Is Hurting Your Business?
Start by preserving evidence of the competitor’s conduct and its effect on your business. Save advertisements, URLs, emails, social media posts, customer communications, contracts, and other relevant materials. Document when the conduct occurred and keep records of customers, sales, contracts, or other opportunities you believe were lost as a result. The injured party should also preserve materials that may help prove a valid contract, business expectancy, causation, and damages.
If confidential information is involved, review the measures your business uses to protect it, including confidentiality agreements and access controls. Reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy are important to establishing trade secret protection.
Timing also matters. Different claims have different filing deadlines, and some can be relatively short. For example, defamation-based claims may be subject to a two-year limitations period, while federal trade secret claims generally have a three-year period measured from discovery of the misappropriation. Depending on the claims and parties involved, competitor disputes may be litigated in state or federal courts.
Because several legal theories may overlap, choosing the correct claims can be particularly important in competitor disputes. Rules such as Florida’s Single Action Rule and trade secret preemption can affect claims that are based on the same underlying conduct.
The Takeaway
Aggressive competition is generally lawful. A competitor can offer better prices, pursue customers, develop competing products, and attempt to gain market share. However, interference with business relationships, deceptive practices, false advertising, trade secret misappropriation, false statements, and anticompetitive conduct may present different legal issues.
The appropriate claim and remedy depend heavily on what the competitor did, what evidence is available, and how the conduct affected your business. If you believe a competitor has crossed the line from lawful competition into actionable conduct, an experienced Florida defamation attorney can evaluate the circumstances, identify the legal claims that may apply, and determine what steps may be available to protect your business.
