Have you ever had a business concept, a logo, a text or a whole homepage copied?
Here are a few tips on what you can do then....
- First, secure the facts and evidence. Check what has been copied. Take screenshots, copies, photos, collect flyers etc. of the copies. Put your originals against the copy, so the copy becomes obvious.
- Go to a specialized lawyer. He can sift through the facts and evidence with you, check them and advise you on what further steps to take. He can also consider with you the history of the copy, if any.
- Do you perhaps have registered trademarks? Then trademark law might be able to help you. If you have registered patents, then patent law might help. If you have copyrighted texts, images, photos, software, etc., then copyright law may be able to help. However, copyright law does not protect ideas. However, competition law with the law against unfair competition (UWG) or a possibly concluded NDA may help here.
- Overall, you should see the lawyer as soon as possible after you have noticed the copies. The lawyer can then take the necessary steps as quickly as possible and in the best case achieve that the copy disappears.
If you should ever encounter a so-called "copycat", please contact us. We will check the legal options and help you.
