Just received a C&D

[con771]

On my site I have a number of articles which mention other businesses, trademarks and products. These articles often explain how the product works or gives a history of the business etc..
The other day I received an email from a person claiming to be the lawyer for a business mentioned in one of my articles.
My article mentions the name of the business and one of their flagship products. The article then goes on to explain how the product works, its benefits, and possible downfalls.
The 'lawyer' told me to remove the article or the business would sue me, claiming I am using their product's name / trademark to make money via adsense.
The funny thing is that my article actually permotes the product and aims at debunking past claims of people calling the product a scam.

What should I do?

I don't want to remove the article since it makes some $ but, I also don't feel I have done anything wrong.

[Content_ed]

If you can't afford a consultation with a lawyer, you're probably better off just taking down that one page. Trademark law has very big teeth in the US, and companies with registered trademarks have to police them to prevent dilution. While the lawyer may be overzealous and your usage may be totally legit, if you aren't ready to defend it in court, keeping the page up is a risk without a reward.

If you are willing to go legal, you may have a case for restraint of trade if your usage is indeed allowable, but it has nothing to do with what you or I think is fair, it's all about what the lawyers and the courts think.

[jimbeetle]

Arrgh! This is ridiculous. I ain't no lawyer, but I'd say the guy doesn't have a leg to stand on. But then, you might not have the financial legs to fight it.

For a lark you might want to search out any of this company's product reviews in good old-fashioned print media. If you find any, send it to the lawyer and suggest he send the same C&D to any publication that earns advertising revenue from these articles.

[ytswy]

Chilling Effects has a good page on what to do if you receive a trademark C&D here [chillingeffects.org].

From what little I know, I seriously doubt they have a legal leg to stand on, but whether it's worth fighting is another matter.

[fischermx]

Let me guess, is this article well positioned on search engines?
I'd guess you're getting some good traffic that the company think should go to theirs site.

[con771]

The article is in the top for the keywords althrough it doens't make a tonne it does make about 6-7% of my total revenue for the site. Thus I am angry at the thought of getting pushed around by these guys. However I don't have any finances to stand up to them...Arghhh, this sucks!

[jatar_k]

you should really just speak to a lawyer

some threads that may provide some information
Content, Writing and Copyright Forum Library [webmasterworld.com]

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