Unfair Competition Investigation in Spain

What an unfair competition investigation in Spain covers

Spanish law defines unfair competition in the Unfair Competition Act (Ley 3/1991 de Competencia Desleal) as conduct that is objectively contrary to good faith in the marketplace. This includes acts of confusion with a rival, exploitation of another company's reputation, inducing breach of contract, deceptive or denigrating practices, and the disclosure or exploitation of business secrets. The purpose of an investigation is to turn suspicion into documented fact: who is doing what, when, how, and with what effect on your business.

Typical scenarios include a departing manager who walks out with a client list, a competitor that suddenly replicates your products or pricing, an employee quietly running a parallel business on your time, or the systematic poaching of your staff and customers. Each of these leaves traces, in the market, in company registries and in patterns of behaviour, that a licensed detective is trained to identify and preserve.

The end goal is practical: evidence solid enough to support a cease-and-desist letter, an application for interim measures (medidas cautelares) to stop the harm quickly, or a claim for damages. The investigation is built from the outset to withstand scrutiny by the other side and by a Spanish judge.

Trade secret theft in Spain

Trade secrets in Spain are protected by the Trade Secrets Act (Ley 1/2019 de Secretos Empresariales), which transposes EU Directive 2016/943. The law protects confidential business information that has commercial value precisely because it is secret and that the company has taken reasonable steps to keep confidential, such as formulas, source code, pricing models, supplier terms, methods and customer data.

Theft typically happens around a resignation or a dispute: files copied to a USB drive, documents forwarded to a personal email account, cloud folders downloaded en masse, or know-how simply carried into a competing venture. The damage often surfaces later, when a rival appears with suspiciously similar products, processes or clients.

An investigation traces how the information left the company and where it resurfaced, identifies who received and used it, and documents that use in the market. Lawful open-source intelligence (OSINT), corporate registry checks and discreet field work are combined into a report that supports a trade secrets claim and, where appropriate, urgent interim measures.

Employees competing with their employer and breach of non-compete

While employed, a worker owes a duty of good faith. Article 21 of the Workers' Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores) prohibits unfair concurrence, so setting up a parallel company, moonlighting for a direct competitor, diverting orders or using the employer's resources and working hours to compete is a breach. Warning signs include unexplained drops in performance, lost tenders that resurface elsewhere, and a new business that mirrors the employer's activity.

After the contract ends, competition is generally lawful unless a valid post-contractual non-compete pact applies. Where such a clause exists, a former employee who joins or founds a competing business may be in breach. An investigation documents the role actually performed, the premises and hours, the corporate links to the competing entity and the overlap with the employer's market.

The detective establishes the activity objectively, through verifiable facts rather than assumptions, so that the employer can act in labour proceedings or in an unfair competition claim with confidence.

Client-list theft and customer poaching

Customer lists and databases can themselves qualify as trade secrets when they are confidential and commercially valuable. Copying that information on departure and then soliciting the same clients for a competitor can amount to unfair competition, misuse of a trade secret and a personal data breach all at once.

Proving it requires connecting the dots: showing that the former employee or partner is approaching your customers, the offers being made, and the resulting migration of accounts. A licensed detective can document these approaches and build a timeline that links the conduct to the loss your company is suffering, distinguishing legitimate market competition from unlawful poaching.

How to prove unfair competition lawfully

Evidence is only useful if it was obtained legally. In Spain, investigations of this kind must be carried out by a licensed private detective who holds a professional ID card (TIP) and is listed in the National Private Security Registry (RNSP), operating under the Private Security Law (Ley 5/2014). Material gathered outside that framework risks being excluded by the court and can expose the client to liability.

The lawful toolkit is broad: discreet surveillance, open-source and corporate intelligence (OSINT), verification of company filings and shareholdings, test purchases and mystery shopping to confirm competing activity, and the identification of witnesses. Each technique is chosen to be proportionate to the matter at hand.

Data protection is part of the method, not an afterthought. The investigation rests on the legitimate interest of the client under the GDPR and Spanish data protection rules, and stays within strict limits: no unlawful access to private communications, no prohibited covert recordings, and only the data necessary to prove the facts. A licensed detective knows precisely where those lines fall.

Court-ready evidence and how to proceed

The strength of working with a licensed detective lies in the value of the final report. Under Article 265.1.5 of the Civil Procedure Act (LEC), a private detective's report may be submitted as documentary evidence in civil proceedings, and the detective can be summoned to ratify it in court and answer questions under examination. That combination gives the report considerable evidentiary weight before a Spanish judge.

In practice, this evidence supports a request for interim measures to halt ongoing harm, the main claim for unfair competition or trade secret infringement, and any related labour proceedings against a disloyal employee. Your lawyers receive a clear, dated and documented account they can rely on from the first hearing.

If you suspect unfair competition in Spain, the right first step is to scope the matter properly. Contact La Sociedad Clave and we will connect you with a licensed Spanish detective who can advise on what can be proven lawfully and how to proceed.