Categories and characterization criteria of unfair competition

It is generally recognized that in a social market economy, free competition among the market players has to be regulated to a certain extent. The law on unfair competition has the task of providing such regulation to the business activities of all the players in a fair and reasonable manner. In Turkey, the greater and most essential part of the legislation concerning unfair competition is systematically contained in article 54 (general clouse) and 55 (objectionable practices) of the Turkish Commercial Act (6762) [Türk Ticaret Kanunu(TTK)] which last amended TTK (6102). The purpose of the Act is to protect competitors, consumers, and other market participants against unfair competition as well as to protect the interests of the general public. Competitive regulations can furthermore be found in other laws, for instance, Code of Obligations, Law on the Protection of Consumers (4077) and the principle of fair trade is indirectly invoked in several areas of the Turkish private law, for instance, in the Trademark Decree Law (556) and other intellectual property law regulaions. The body of laws of the European Community also contain partial regulation of legal matters involving unfair competition. Both primary laws (EC agreements m 3, 10, 28, 49) and secondary laws (ordinances, directives, decisions) contain regulations that impact Turkish domestic law. The European harmonization process on unfair competition law started with the 84/450/EEC Directive on Misleading Advertising, which was amended 97/55/EC Directive so as to include comparative advertising. 2005/29/EC Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices was adopted in May 2005. The Directive directly protects consumer economic interests from unfair business to- consumer commercial practices. Unfair competition is elaborated by rules on the two most common types of commercial practices, misleading commercial practices and aggressive commercial practices. Annex I to the Directive enumerates 31 commercial practices which are in all circumstances considered unfair. There are also other laws of international relevance deserving of attention, such as, for instance, the Paris Convention and bilateral treaties for protection against unfair competition.