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Trademark question - Can I write about other companies products

by rvrabel2002
7 replies
Hey Guys,
Just want some opinions on this. Lets say i wanted to start a site about wrinkle creams, and start reviewing various types of wrinkle creams. Este Lauder, maybelline, hydroxatone, etc. all sell wrinkle creams.

So i have this site, and one of my reviews is of a specific product, lets say este lauder wrinkle cream.

At the bottom of my review, I have a link to my favorite (or top) wrinkle creams, those of which i am an affiliate.

Two questions here:

Am I violating Este Lauders trademark name by writing a review of it?

Is this legal or illegal?

From everything I have gathered from research, it appears that noone can call you out on "trademark infringement" unless you try to appear as though you are associated with the product, in this case Este Lauder.

Your thoughts / opinions?

This is a hypothetical example, and I have not started a wrinkle cream site, just so you know.

thanks,

Robert
#companies #products #question #trademark #write
  • Profile picture of the author Ben Armstrong
    Thousands (probably millions) of people make a legitimate living online, doing exactly what you just described. As long as you avoid using any trademarks in your domain name and as you said, don't make any claims to represent the company in any way then there's no issue.
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    • Profile picture of the author rvrabel2002
      Originally Posted by MalceskiFan View Post

      Thousands (probably millions) of people make a legitimate living online, doing exactly what you just described. As long as you avoid using any trademarks in your domain name and as you said, don't make any claims to represent the company in any way then there's no issue.
      ok, but when you say domain name, does that also mean:

      xyzwrinklecreams.com/este-lauder-review.html ?

      Rob
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      • Profile picture of the author Ben Armstrong
        Originally Posted by rvrabel2002 View Post

        ok, but when you say domain name, does that also mean:

        xyzwrinklecreams.com/este-lauder-review.html ?

        Rob
        Hopefully someone else can confirm but I'm 95% sure there's no issue having a trademark in the URL, just not in the actual domain name.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Alves
    No, you aren't violating any trademarks. It's legal. Anyone is allowed to give their opinions about products. You do need an affiliate compensation disclosure link on the page though. This is mandatory to prevent people from believing false claims and buying products that are based on biased reviews.
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    • Profile picture of the author rvrabel2002
      Originally Posted by John Alves View Post

      No, you aren't violating any trademarks. It's legal. Anyone is allowed to give their opinions about products. You do need an affiliate compensation disclosure link on the page though. This is mandatory to prevent people from believing false claims and buying products that are based on biased reviews.
      Yes, I would add a disclosure link. Ok, it seems to make sense, I see it all the time.

      However, I did try to do something like this before for a weight loss product. Basically, I posted a review of a weight loss product in ezine articles, wrote a bad review (the product really did suck!), and then directed them to my product review site of a weight loss product that did work for me.

      Ezine Articles put the stamp of dissapproval on it, saying that this was "false designation of origin".

      However, I did EXTENSIVE research on this, and that is not what "false designation of origin" means.

      Essentially, the Lanham Act states that "false designation of origin is leaving the origin of a good or service intentionally vague to attempt to profit from it."

      I made absolutely no claim that i was associated with the product in any way, only that i had used it, and it didnt work.

      So either Ezine Articles has no idea what they are talking about, or whoever reviewed my article deemed it that i was presenting some sort of material connection to the product being reviewed.
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      • Profile picture of the author John Alves
        Originally Posted by rvrabel2002 View Post

        Yes, I would add a disclosure link. Ok, it seems to make sense, I see it all the time.

        However, I did try to do something like this before for a weight loss product. Basically, I posted a review of a weight loss product in ezine articles, wrote a bad review (the product really did suck!), and then directed them to my product review site of a weight loss product that did work for me.

        Ezine Articles put the stamp of dissapproval on it, saying that this was "false designation of origin".

        However, I did EXTENSIVE research on this, and that is not what "false designation of origin" means.

        Essentially, the Lanham Act states that "false designation of origin is leaving the origin of a good or service intentionally vague to attempt to profit from it."

        I made absolutely no claim that i was associated with the product in any way, only that i had used it, and it didnt work.

        So either Ezine Articles has no idea what they are talking about, or whoever reviewed my article deemed it that i was presenting some sort of material connection to the product being reviewed.
        Ezine is pretty strict. They don't like that sort of content. There was probably nothing wrong with it, but since it was hosted on their site, they have the right to do what they want with it. On your own website, you can say whatever you want because it's yours. If you want to do reviews on products and make money, you can try ReviewStream. Maybe you are looking for something like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author jennhenderson
    This was a great question and I was looking for the same answer. Thank you for asking the question.

    Have a good one!!!
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