In general, unfair competition refers to the economic injury that a business may sustain by reason of the deceptive business practices of others. This may consist in acts which confuse the public as to the origin of the product or in “unfair trade practices” which includes among others, false advertising, trade libel and false representation of products and services.

False advertising is clearly defined by the Lanham Act as “any advertising or promotion that misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities or geographic origin of goods, services or commercial activities.” There are three acts which constitute ‘false advertising’ namely, “a) failure to disclose, b) flawed and insignificant research and c) product disparagement.” There is false advertising when a representation that is made is not true because it results from the failure to disclose a material fact. Thus, the falsity consists in the statements that falsely gives account or are stated incorrectly and those statements which are only to some extent correct.

Flawed and insignificant research refers to claims made which are unsubstantiated by any authoritative research or “which are contradicted by a prevailing authority or research” (