Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Any attorney will say a review of all facts, documents, etc. is required. After that, a personal consultation is needed. This is not a simple bulletin board type question. Consult with an I.P. attorney in your area for specifics.

Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. - Mr. Franchise

Franchise Attorney

Generally, yes to shutting down the link and no to redirecting it to your site. However if there is a contract between you and the company about their website, this could all change. So, more detail is needed to be sure. Take the advice of "Mr. Franchise" and call an Illinois IP attorney (I am one)and spend a few dollars to get this right. The devil is in the details. You could be liable for trademark infringement and/or unfair competition if you don't do this right, so lawguru is only good to check to see if you need legal advice and I echo that you do.

Your question leaves out a lot of required information (e.g., how is it that you own the domain for someone else's company, why are you now considering re-directing the link to your own site, are you a competitor of this other company, etc.) that is crucial for undertaking any type of analysis of this situation. As is always the case, it is better to spend a few dollars now with an attorney who can give you sound legal advice so that you take the proper actions (or, more importantly, avoid improper actions) rather than spend a lot of dollars down the road when you get sued. Feel free to give me a call or email to discuss if you wish. Otherwise, good luck with your matter.