Haw. Rev. Stat. § 480-2

Unfair competition, practices, declared unlawful

Applied in 83 court decisions — leading case T.W. Electrical Service, Inc. v. Pacific Electrical Contractors Ass'n (1987)

Most recently applied in Bristol-Myers Squibb Company v. Clare Connors (October 2020)

L 1965, c 129, pt of §1; Supp, §205A-1.1; HRS §480-2; am L 1987, c 274, §2; am L 1988, c 51, §1; am L 2002, c 229, §2

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are unlawful.

(b) In construing this section, the courts and the office of consumer protection shall give due consideration to the rules, regulations, and decisions of the Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts interpreting section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(1)), as from time to time amended.

(c) No showing that the proceeding or suit would be in the public interest (as these terms are interpreted under section 5(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act) is necessary in any action brought under this section.

(d) No person other than a consumer, the attorney general or the director of the office of consumer protection may bring an action based upon unfair or deceptive acts or practices declared unlawful by this section.

(e) Any person may bring an action based on unfair methods of competition declared unlawful by this section.

Official source: Hawaii State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Hawaii statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.