Legal Question in Business Law in New York

Re: Business competitor mentioned in advertising

This is an excellent question that has a very fact-driven answer. That means that you do actually need to show exactly what you're doing to someone to get a specific opinion. I can't answer this here since I haven't seen/reviewed your materials.

Ramifications of screwing this up by not talking to an attorney in advance can be in the $millions in damages paid by you to your competitor, so it's really very important that you bite the bullet and talk with the attorney up front, before you do anything.

Obviously, comparison advertising is done, but it is always done very, very carefully and the ads are very very much reviewed by legal departments.

If I can be of help to you in this, let me know, but there are many law firms in the City that have a great deal of experience with advertising law. You should consider contacting one or more of them. You can probably call the NYC Bar Association for a referral; you can certainly call the NY State Bar Association for a referral.

Good luck.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.

Re: Business competitor mentioned in advertising

I'd have to review the specific posting to offer a more precise opinion, but often in these cases the comparison falls within the fair use exception to the copyright act. On the other hand, if there is a trademark use, the outcome could be entirely different.

This type of review isn't expensive - if you'd like me to take a look, please let me know.