Presumably what you mean to say is that you have a patent *application* filed. A patent application does not confer any rights to exclude a competitor from practicing what is claimed (until/unless it issues as a patent). However that part about the "patent was never filed" seems to contradict my presumption and that you filed a non-provisional patent. Please clarify your question and what you meant to say.
Answered on Nov 20th, 2013 at 6:40 PM