Opinion ID: 1312425
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Application of the Unfair Practices Act to Mergers

Text: (8) The Unfair Practices Act, Business and Professions Code, section 17000 et seq., defines unfair competition as, inter alia, unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business practice. ... ( Id., § 17200, italics added.) As we have said, the statute is directed at `on-going wrongful business conduct'.... ( People v. McKale (1979) 25 Cal.3d 626, 632 [159 Cal. Rptr. 811, 602 P.2d 731].) Thus the practice requirement envisions something more than a single transaction, as in this case; it contemplates a pattern' ... of conduct ( Barquis v. Merchants Collection Assn. (1972) 7 Cal.3d 94, 108 [101 Cal. Rptr. 745, 496 P.2d 817]), on-going ... conduct ( id., at p. 111), a pattern of behavior ( id., at p. 113), or a course of conduct. ( Ibid. ) No such practice is alleged or shown here. The mere fact that the Attorney General asserts in his brief that defendants have engaged in certain unlawful practices in the past, and may do so in the future, is not enough. The complaint attacks only the merger, and no ongoing conduct; hence, it does not state a cause of action under Business and Professions Code section 17200.