General liability insurance carried by a company included coverage for "advertising injury," defined in the policy as "injury arising out of an offense committed during the policy period occurring in the course of the named insured's advertising activities, if such injury arises out of libel, slander, defamation, violation of right of privacy, piracy, unfair competition, or infringement of copyright, title or slogan."

When the insured was sued countrywide by dissatisfied customers, it claimed coverage under the advertising provision in the policy, arguing that the complaints were within the scope of "unfair competition." Legal action by the insured to enforce its claim resulted in a trial court ruling for the insurer. The insured appealed.

The appeal court affirmed the findings of the trial court, which found that "unfair competition" in the policy referred "only to actions affecting competitors." It said that this was "consistent with Florida case law that requires injury to a competitor as an essential element of any claim of unfair competition." The phrase could not be stretched to include innumerable alleged acts of wrongdoing by businesses.

The judgment of the trial court was affirmed in favor of the insurance company and against the insured.

(PRACTICE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES, INC., APPELLANT v. OLD DOMINION INS. CO., Appellee. FL District Court of Appeal, First District. No. 91-935. May 27, 1992. CCH 1992 Fire and Casualty Cases, Paragraph 3752.)