Injurious falsehood
Law Firm

The tort of injurious falsehood is sometimes available to deal with forms of unfair trading that do not amount to passing off. Statements that are actionable under this tort are are (1) objectively false; (2) made maliciously; (3) that causes damage to the claimant's business, goods or services. Its essence to to protect against disparaging remarks in respect to a competitor's goods or business.

The measure of damages that may be awarded differs from that of defamation. Defamation protects damage to reputation, be it the trade reputation of business or the reputation of an individual. Damages in malicious falsehood are awarded to the damage caused to the claimant by the representation, but not reputational damage. Often, both causes of action are pursued in litigation.

The tort is commonly used to seek redress for false claims as to intellectual property rights, however it has a far broader application, as the criterion above suggest.