The prestigious publishing house Thompson Reuters (Argentina) has published a special supplement that analyzes the Decree 274/2019 of Commercial Loyalty in Argentina. The compendium makes an extensive analysis on the subject of unfair competition where aspects of both substantive law and procedural aspects are addressed, the link with other subjects and professional disciplines, as well as the impact of the matter in the economic field.
In the section dedicated to the analysis of Comparative Law, Marta makes a detailed analysis of the Paraguayan reality in this area, where she considers aspects related to (i) local regulations, (ii) the study of sources and their problems, (iii) the comparison between the law of unfair competition and the law of unfair competition vis a vis competition law (differences and points in common), (iv) standing to sue, (v) a brief review of the jurisprudential criteria and (vi) his final considerations regarding the desired evolution of the matter in Paraguay.
First, Marta mentions that in Paraguay, unlike other countries with special laws on unfair competition or where the competition authorities hear cases of unfair competition and in the absence of a unified regulatory body, it is the commercial judge who is responsible for assessing the qualification of unfair acts within a dispersed and extremely comprehensive regulatory catalog where the civil and commercial judge is the competent authority in cases of controversy.
Regarding the differences between unfair competition law and competition law, the author mentions that since competition law is a relatively new subject in Paraguay, it tends to be commonly confused with unfair competition law. Regarding the substantive aspect, Marta mentions that, historically, unfair competition deals with settling disputes between private parties within the commercial and professional sphere, while competition law deals with disciplining those competitive facts that may affect a public good, this being the main difference between one discipline and the other.
Finally, Marta considers that the main legal problem lies in the difficult task to be performed by the commercial judge (Civil and Commercial Court) when assessing issues such as: good practices, honest use in industrial or commercial matters and means contrary to the principles of professional ethics that may cause harm to the competitor, being this assessment -beyond the normative dispersion- what makes the legal system of protection against unfair acts in Paraguay vulnerable. In addition, with respect to the relationship between acts of unfair competition and anti-competitive acts, Marta recommends directing national legislation towards: (i) the international trend of understanding unfair acts as those that ultimately threaten the proper functioning of the market, either with the enactment of a special law on unfair competition or (ii) with the incorporation of unfair acts in the current antitrust legislation.
For further details on the subject, please contact Marta Martínez (mmartinez@vouga.com.py)
