2011 Connecticut Code
Title 42 Business, Selling, Trading and Collection Practices
Chapter 735a Unfair Trade Practices
Sec. 42-110b. Unfair trade practices prohibited. Legislative intent.

      Sec. 42-110b. Unfair trade practices prohibited. Legislative intent. (a) No person shall engage in unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce.

      (b) It is the intent of the legislature that in construing subsection (a) of this section, the commissioner and the courts of this state shall be guided by interpretations given by the Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts to Section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 USC 45(a)(1)), as from time to time amended.

      (c) The commissioner may, in accordance with chapter 54, establish by regulation acts, practices or methods which shall be deemed to be unfair or deceptive in violation of subsection (a) of this section. Such regulations shall not be inconsistent with the rules, regulations and decisions of the federal trade commission and the federal courts in interpreting the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

      (d) It is the intention of the legislature that this chapter be remedial and be so construed.

      (P.A. 73-615, S. 2, 16; P.A. 75-618, S. 1, 11; P.A. 76-303, S. 1, 4.)

      History; P.A. 75-618 rephrased provisions for clarity and consistency; P.A. 76-303 deleted provision in Subsec. (a) which established unfair or deceptive acts and methods of competition as those in rules, regulations or decisions interpreting Federal Trade Commission Act by Federal Trade Commission or federal courts and in regulations of commissioner and state courts, inserting new Subsec. (b) in its stead, relettered former Subsec. (b) and added Subsec. (d).

      Cited. 177 C. 304. Cited. 184 C. 607. Cited. 186 C. 507; Id., 507. Cited. 190 C. 510; Id., 528. Cited. 191 C. 484. Cited. 192 C. 558; Id., 747. Cited. 193 C. 208. Cited. 199 C. 651. Cited. 200 C. 360. Cited. 202 C. 234. Cited. 203 C. 342; Id., 475. Cited. 205 C. 479. Cited. 207 C. 204; Id., 575. Cited. 208 C. 620. Cited. 213 C. 665. Cited. 214 C. 303. Cited. 215 C. 590. Cited. 217 C. 404. Cited. 219 C. 644. Cited. 221 C. 356. Cited. 223 C. 80; Id., 761. Cited. 224 C. 231. Cited. 225 C. 566; Id., 705. Cited. 226 C. 773. Cited. 229 C. 479; Id., 842. Cited. 230 C. 148; Id., 486. Cited. 231 C. 707. Cited. 232 C. 167; Id., 527. Cited. 236 C. 845. Cited. 238 C. 216. Cited. 240 C. 300. Cited. 241 C. 278; Id., 630. Plaintiff who purchased computer with preinstalled software from a retailer cannot recover from software manufacturer because plaintiff's claimed injuries are too indirect and remote from the manufacturer's allegedly anticompetitive conduct. 260 C. 59. In absence of any evidence of substantial injury to consumers or to plaintiff, the existence of exclusivity provisions between defendant newspaper and comic strip syndicators does not constitute probable cause to believe that defendant has violated CUTPA since such provisions are customary in the newspaper industry, procompetitive and presumptively legal. 261 C. 673. Record supported trial court's finding that defendants' actions did not constitute a CUTPA violation, notwithstanding their unworkmanlike construction of plaintiff's home. 295 C. 214.

      Cited. 11 CA 289. Cited. 13 CA 194. Cited. 14 CA 425. Cited. 15 CA 101. Cited. 17 CA 421. Cited. 19 CA 379. Cited. 20 CA 625. Cited. 21 CA 185. Cited. 23 CA 137; Id., 585. Cited. 27 CA 59; Id., 810. Cited. 28 CA 491; Id., 660; Id., 760. Cited. 31 CA 443; Id., 682. Cited. 32 CA 644. Cited. 33 CA 294; Id., 575. Cited. 40 CA 23. Cited. 41 CA 19; Id., 437. Cited. 42 CA 124. Discussed re res judicata and federal litigation. 49 CA 582. Single act of misconduct is sufficient to support a CUTPA claim. Federal law sets a floor, not a ceiling. 72 CA 342. With respect to CUTPA, clear and convincing evidence is not the appropriate standard of proof whenever claims of tortious conduct require proof of willful, wrongful or unlawful acts. The ordinary preponderance of the evidence standard is appropriate. 99 CA 719.

      Cited. 36 CS 183. Cited. 38 CS 455. Cited. 40 CS 336. Cited. 41 CS 130; Id., 484. Cited. 44 CS 274.

      Subsec. (a):

      Cited. 192 C. 124. Cited. 200 C. 172. Cited. 216 C. 65; Id., 200. Cited. 229 C. 213. Cited. 232 C. 480; Id., 559. Cited. 238 C. 183. Cited. 241 C. 24. Cited. 242 C. 236. Cited. 243 C. 17. Although purely intracorporate conflicts are not covered by CUTPA, actions outside scope of the employment relationship may be covered. Id., 355. Defendant did not engage in deceptive practice prohibited by CUTPA by intentionally failing to disclose until after fall catalogs were printed and mailed that it did not intend to provide financing for deferred billing program; since courts have held that a failure to disclose can be deceptive only if, in light of all the circumstances, there is a duty to disclose, the letter of intent, under facts of the case, did not give rise to any statutory, regulatory or contractual duty on defendant's part to repudiate timely its commitment to provide financing for deferred billing program. 274 C. 33. Hospital decisions regarding physicians' privileges do not fall within ambit of CUTPA. 296 C. 315.

      Cited. 13 CA 208. Cited. 22 CA 464. Cited. 23 CA 227. Cited. 26 CA 203. Cited. 27 CA 628; Id., 706. Cited. 30 CA 493. Cited. 35 CA 455. Cited. 38 CA 859. Cited 43 CA 419; Id., 756. While existence of a duty is not a prerequisite for finding of a CUTPA violation, defendant did not violate CUTPA by declining to do that which it simply was not required to do. 64 CA 417. Failure to disclose can be deceptive only if, in light of all the circumstances, there is a duty to disclose. 78 CA 760. Representing on numerous occasions that work will be performed by one subcontractor known to perform at a certain master level while knowing that the work will be performed by a different subcontractor not of the same master level constitutes a deceptive act. 113 CA 509. A practice may be unfair because of the degree to which it meets one of the following criteria or because to a lesser extent it meets all three: (1) Whether the practice, without necessarily having been previously considered unlawful, offends public policy as it has been established by statutes, common law or otherwise; (2) whether it is immoral, unethical, oppressive or unscrupulous; or (3) whether it causes substantial injury to consumers, competitors or other businesspersons. 114 CA 262. A CUTPA violation may not be alleged for activities that are incidental to an entity's primary trade or commerce, and subject transaction was incidental to primary business and thus fell outside purview of CUTPA. 116 CA 483. Contractor's failure to obtain certificate of registration under Sec. 20-417b and not disclosing that fact to plaintiff was a CUTPA violation as a matter of law, but plaintiff failed to show that the violation resulted in an ascertainable loss. 121 CA 165. Allegations involving purely intracorporate matters fail to satisfy CUTPA's requirement that a defendant's conduct implicate trade or commerce. 123 CA 512. Defendant land owner's conduct, in inducing plaintiff land purchaser to pursue design plans and the purchase of land after the original term of their reservation agreement had expired then increasing the price of the land in contravention of that agreement, deprived plaintiff of the benefit of his bargain and was unscrupulous and unethical and thus constituted a deceptive and unfair trade practice. Id., 800.

      Radio station's use of approximation of its FM radio frequency, which was same number as that used by another station, does not constitute an unfair trade practice. 35 CS 1. Cited. 41 CS 575. Cited. 43 CS 431. Cited. 44 CS 569. Cited. 45 CS 11. Motion to strike complaint alleging unfair trade practice denied in case involving personal injury to tenant when he fell on ice on the outside stairs of defendant landlord's apartment house and plaintiff alleges that the ice was due to the absence of gutters. Id., 267.

      Subsec. (b):

      Cited. 200 C. 172. Cited. 216 C. 65. Cited. 232 C. 480.

      Cited. 41 CS 575. Cited. 42 CS 198.

      Subsec. (d):

      Cited. 200 C. 172. Cited. 232 C. 480. Cited. 238 C. 183.

      Cited. 39 CS 78. Cited. 42 CS 198.