idiotgirl - 1:13 pm on Oct 21, 2003 (gmt 0)

If this competitor has offered this on his downloadable .pdf, why not contact his ISP directly with a Notice of Infringement and/or C&D? Cc'S and Bcc's to anyone involved, including your attorney. In other words, bypass initial contact with Substandard Widgetmaker (instead) with a NOI sent to webhost, cc Substandard Widgetmaker, and cc your attorney.

Hit them all in one fell swoop, then take a nap and chill out.

There is the possibility your ad copy was provided to them by a professional, albeit plagiarizing, copy writer. However, given your opinion of how you believe they would handle the matter, they probably stole it themselves.

Unless they are broadcasting their own web site (widget server box running from dark closet in Substandard Widgetmaker's basement), it would seem you have a legitimate claim for infringement/plagiarism, which would most likely be a violation of the competitor's web host's TOS.

At least your widget competitor would have to write their own substandard copy for their own substandard widgets, be inconvenienced (and possibly embarrassed), and their web host has a big heads-up from the get-go with the power to MAKE them remove it.