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April 13th, 2026
Client poaching, mass solicitation, commercial free-riding…
Are you noticing an unexplained drop in revenue? Long-standing clients are disappearing without reason, and you suspect a competitor is using questionable methods to harm your business? Before consulting a commercial law attorney, you need to be able to prove the unfair competition practices you suspect.
Unfair competition refers to any wrongful conduct by an economic actor that causes harm to a competitor through practices contrary to fair commercial standards.
Contrary to what many believe, unfair competition is not limited to client poaching or product copying.
In this context, the involvement of a private investigator can make the difference between a solid case and suspicions that are impossible to prove in court. In this article, you will find the warning signs to watch for, what an investigator can legally accomplish for your business, and how to act effectively against unfair commercial practices.
Unfair competition doesn't announce itself. It sets in gradually, often behind seemingly innocent explanations: a tough market, a rough patch, a coincidence of timing. Here are the nine warning signs you should watch for.
Your sales are falling, your margins are eroding, and nothing in your business justifies the decline. Before revisiting your strategy, check whether a competitor is benefiting from an advantage gained through unfair means.
Long-standing clients disappear overnight. A former employee contacts them shortly after leaving. This type of targeted solicitation, especially when it draws on internal information, is a clear-cut unfair practice.
Several key staff members leave your company at the same time to join the same competitor. Beyond the HR signal, this deliberate disruption of your organization may constitute unfair competition.
A competitor reproduces your pricing, presentation, brand image, or commercial materials. If it creates a risk of confusion in your clients' minds, it goes beyond mere inspiration and enters the territory of slavish imitation, sanctioned under the UCA.
A competitor appropriates your reputation, your image, or the fruits of your investments to profit from them without having borne the costs. Reuse of a visual signature, a marketing concept, or a distinctive working method, without directly confusing clients with your products, but unfairly capitalizing on what you have built.
Negative statements are circulating about you, your products, or your methods, on social media, among partners or clients. Disparagement directly damages your reputation and can divert your clientele without you immediately identifying the source.
A competitor suddenly knows your pricing, your projects, or your key clients. The disclosure of confidential files by former employees is a serious unfair practice, often difficult to prove without a professional investigation.
A competitor purchases keywords matching your company name to capture your visitors and redirect them to their own offerings. This deliberate confusion is an increasingly common form of unfair competition.
A competitor operates in the same field without complying with the required legal framework: licenses, authorizations, tax or social obligations, gaining an artificial and unlawful competitive advantage.
A licensed private investigator starts with concrete fieldwork. They conduct surveillance and tailing operations in public spaces to document suspicious activities by your competitors. Every observation is photographed, timestamped, and geolocated to build a solid case file.
OSINT techniques make up a significant part of modern investigative work. Your investigator analyzes professional social networks, competitor websites, and commercial publications. This documentary research helps detect the fraudulent use of your content or instances of commercial free-riding.
Common investigative missions:
The investigator can conduct in-depth competitive intelligence to identify unfair practices and gather tangible elements that support your burden of proof before the courts.
Every mission concludes with a detailed, legally usable report. The document includes all findings along with the necessary supporting evidence. Your attorney can use this report as admissible evidence.
The private investigator plays a key role in collecting evidence admissible before the courts. Where an "huissier judiciaire" intervenes on a one-time basis to record a specific and tangible fact, a private investigator can conduct long-term surveillance and tailing operations in public spaces, sometimes over several days, weeks, or even months, to document repeated behaviors, patterns, or suspicious meetings. That kind of sustained investigation is precisely what a bailiff is not equipped to provide.
An important clarification: a screenshot you take yourself or an informal witness statement does not carry the same evidentiary weight as a professional report. A licensed private investigator's report is a structured, timestamped, and signed document whose value is recognized before Swiss courts.
Unlike a formal record limited to the applicant's own premises, a private investigator can document facts in public spaces without prior judicial authorization, giving them a decisive operational flexibility to respond quickly.
The Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UCA, RS 241) precisely defines the limits of commercial practices in Switzerland. Understanding these rules is essential to protecting your rights without crossing the line.
You have the right to compare your products to those of your competitors, provided the comparison is objective and verifiable. You may also communicate about your pricing, promotions, and competitive advantages.
Collecting publicly available information about your competitors is permitted. You can analyze their catalogs, visit their points of sale, and browse their websites.
Under Art. 2 UCA (RS 241), any conduct or commercial practice that is deceptive or contrary to the principles of good faith, and that affects the relationship between competitors or between suppliers and customers, is deemed unfair and unlawful. You may not spread false information about your competitors or create confusion with their products.
The following practices constitute unfair acts under the UCA, giving rise to civil action for cessation, declaratory relief, or damages (Art. 9 UCA, in conjunction with the CO):
Any evidence obtained through illegal means is inadmissible before the courts. If you have suffered financial harm, you must prove the fault, the causal link, and the damage.
In the event of proven unfair competition, you may seek cessation of the unfair acts, damages, and even publication of the judgment. Civil proceedings allow for urgent interim measures or full proceedings for compensation of the harm suffered.
A French-speaking Swiss artisan cosmetics company discovers that a competitor is reproducing its exclusive formulas and commercial visuals. Discreetly retained, the investigator documents the similarities through field surveillance and documentary research. The case file, handed over to the attorney, results in a formal cease-and-desist notice, followed by a court ruling ordering the immediate cessation of the unlawful practice and the payment of damages.
A Geneva-based consultant sees his former working methodology publicly presented as the invention of his ex-client. An in-depth investigation and digital monitoring allow the necessary evidence to be gathered. The proceedings initiated under the UCA lead to the withdrawal of the relevant materials and an out-of-court settlement.
Five sales representatives simultaneously leave a company to join a direct competitor, taking the client database with them. Surveillance and monitoring of the competitor's activities prove that these employees are actively soliciting their former employer's clients in breach of their contractual obligations. The court, seized on an urgent basis, issues immediate provisional measures and finds the competitor liable for violation of the UCA.
You can contact AGOP for an unfair competition investigation as soon as you suspect commercial practices contrary to good faith. The right time to act is before the harm gets worse.
Situations requiring the intervention of a private investigator:
Do not underestimate the financial impact of unfair competition that takes hold over time: loss of clients, margin erosion, reputational damage, doing nothing almost always costs more than retaining an investigator. AGOP operates with complete discretion to protect your business and your professional reputation.
Confidential first contact - Describe your situation. We assess the feasibility of your request together, with no obligation on your part.
Case evaluation - We define the resources to be deployed and provide you with a transparent cost estimate.
Formal engagement - The investigation is framed by a document specifying the scope of intervention and the obligations of each party.
Conducting the investigation - Our teams operate with method and discretion: field surveillance, tailing, documentary research, and digital analysis.
Investigation report - At the conclusion of the mission, you receive a structured, timestamped document that can be used before the relevant authorities.
Your approach is entirely legitimate. You have the right to protect your business against unfair conduct. The evidence gathered by our Geneva-based private detective agency operating throughout French-speaking Switzerland can subsequently be used in legal proceedings, as you will need to prove the unfair act and its causal link to your damages.
AGOP's guaranteed discretion allows you to act without alerting your competitors, preserving your strategic advantage throughout the investigation.
Don't wait for the situation to worsen. A first contact is non-binding, but gives you a clear picture of your concrete options.
AGOP is a Swiss private investigation agency based in Geneva.
Phone: +41 (0)79 600 01 02
Email: detective[@]agop.ch
Secure email: detective.agop[@]proton.me
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