Unfair competition: The Court of Cassation holds that an act of unfair competition attributable to a competitor of the victim is required for an unfair competition action to be brought (Europe funérailles c/ Funéfrance Funéclair)

*This article is an automatic translation of the original article, provided here for your convenience. Read the original article. – Cass. com, 11 July 2006, Europe funérailles v/ Funéfrance Funéclair, n° 02-18.229 Based on articles 1382 and 1383 of the Civil Code, an action for unfair competition requires proof of fault (Cass. com., 16 May 1995, No. 93-17.842; Cass. com., 30 May 2000, No. 98-15.549, Contracts, conc., consom. 2001, comm. No. 161; Cass. 1st civ., 18 Jan. 2005, No. 03-15.911). It is appropriate to punish a wrongful harmful act and the action in unfair competition cannot be accepted on the basis of a presumption of liability because of the very existence of the principle of free competition. It is in line with this case law that the