The claim requires a false disparaging statement about the plaintiff's products or services, publication, malice, and special damages consisting of specific pecuniary loss. It differs from defamation, which addresses reputation.
Special damages must be pleaded with specificity.
Alternative Names:
Injurious Falsehood|Product Disparagement
Why it Matters?
The special damages requirement defeats most trade libel claims, since a plaintiff must identify specific lost transactions and customers rather than alleging general declining sales. That pleading burden is substantially higher than defamation, where per se categories permit presumed damages. Framing a claim as business defamation rather than trade libel avoids the requirement where the statement attacked the company rather than its products.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What defeats most trade libel claims?
How does it differ from defamation?
