Are You Annoyed by your Competition?
Do your competitors claim untruths in their advertising? Do your competitors make your products look bad in comparisons? Do your competitors speak badly about your company?
Wonderful! These actions provide all the prerequisites for the world’s finest comeback.
Find out here at Harlander & Partner how to proceed so that everything remains legal.
The Retaliation
Imagine this publication on the homepage of your competitor’s website.
Right at the top. Where everyone can see it. :)
Lügenbold GmbH, address, undertakes to Retourkutschen GmbH, address, to refrain from making the following or similar untrue claims in business dealings: Our products are the best products on the market.
Or:
Lügenbold GmbH, address, undertakes to Retourkutschen GmbH, address, to refrain from making the following or similar untrue claims in business dealings and misleading customers: The products of Lügenbold GmbH are technically more sophisticated than those of Retourkutschen GmbH.
Embarrassing, isn’t it?
It’s that Simple:
If a competitor violates your rights, competition law grants you a legal claim to cease and desist and publication in almost all cases.
In the first step, this claim is asserted with a lawyer’s letter of demand. If the competitor does not react to this, the claim will be enforced through the court.
In the best case, this only takes a few weeks.
It Gets Even Worse:
The competitor must make the publication where he made the untrue statement:
Website
Facebook profile
Magazines
Daily newspaper
That can be really expensive. Discount? None! Newspapers charge exactly according to the advertising rate for court-ordered judgment publications. The “customer” has no choice anyway.
How long and how often the publication has to be made depends on the individual case. For publications on websites, a duration of one to three months is common.
And who Bears the Costs?
The costs are ultimately borne by the infringer. This includes:
- the lawyer’s fees
- the court fees – if court proceedings are necessary at all
- the costs of publication – if, for example, a paid advertisement is ordered in a newspaper
One thing is certain: after this embarrassing and expensive lesson, the competitor will abide by the rules.
Peter HarlanderHarlander & Partner Rechtsanwälte „Do you also want to keep your competitors in check?
We offer a free initial consultation for this.“
