Competitor using product name and images

I am the webmaster for AcrylicOceans.com, a marine aquarium filtration equipment manufacturer, and a competitor has used techniques that border on illegal and are black hat to achieve higher rankings.

The first issue is concerning the Beckett Skimmer Filtration range made by AcrylicOceans.com which is named the 'AOS 1' through to 'AOS 6' Beckett Skimmer Range and the competitor has named his sump (also a marine aquarium filtration product) range the 'AOS 6', the same name as my client, and has achieved higher rankings through black hat techniques.
The Google Query for 'AOS 6 Beckett Skimmer' for AcrylicOceans.com has dropped to number 2,3, and 4 in a number of weeks, with this competitor stingRayMarinefilters.com ranking number 1, presumably due to the already high rankings for the keywords.

Secondly, in addition this competitor had bought a Custom Made Beckett Protein Skimmer from Acrylic Oceans prior to opening an online store and used a photo he took of the actual product purchased to advertise it as his own on one of his online stores. This is also causing search engine ranking issues.
The purchased Beckett skimmer that is being sold illegally as his own product, even though there are definitive styles to the product that prove the authentic manufacturer is an Acrylic Oceans product has been sneakily added to a duplicate content site that is a flash site. If you click on the products page of Stingray marine filters you will see the photo of the Acrylic Oceans Beckett Skimmer that is being advertised illegally as a stingray Beckett Skimmer at stingrayMarineFilters.com/flash/main.swf.


The competitor has 5 websites, 2 are duplicate sites and many have back links from unrelated sites and he doesn't reciprocate required links.

My client has contacted the offender asking him to remove the image of the AcrylicOceans.com Beckett Skimmer and to change the name of his sump range so that it not the same name as the AcrylicOceans.com product range. He has not responded.

I am unsure what to do to resolve this issue, as there are legal implications to his actions and the search engines are ranking his site for the query on Google.com 'AOS 6' is at number one and my client has has dropped off the map for this query.
The third result for AOS 6 query is keyworded to imply that the product is an AOS 6 Becket Skimmer and it is not!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.




Cheers
Sheeba

Ummm. Could you please explain to me in one line which is the illegal part of your competitor's actions. As opposed to the mere "blackhat" stuff with is just a method of web promo really.

I think I almost understand....

The illegal action is stingrayMarineFilters.com claiming to have manufactured a product which was manufactured by my clients business (AcrylicOceans.com) and in addition using it as an example of their own quality of workmanship.

It's akin to taking the badge from a Mercedes and placing it on a BMW and advertising it as being built by Mercedes.

Hope that helps.


Thanks
Sheeba

Tx.

If this were a copyright thing, or something to do with the website, you could file a complaint under the DMCA (copyright act). But as it is now, it appears to be a purely legal thing, with lawyers and judges and stuff. Dunno if anything can be done on the web to stop the wrongdoing.

Thanks,

I believe it is a legal thing, and black hat seo at it finest! Unfortunately the cost of legal advice is too expensive.

Is there anything i can do with regards to Google and the black hat techniques implemented? I've not come across such an extreme example before.

I should also add that i have to ban several IP addresses of websites that he has either paid to monitor my clients site or used free web monitoring services to watch for changes, and am continually on the lookout for suspicious monitoring behavior.

As a point of interest he has only had his 5 online stores (including duplicate flash content ones) for 6 months and the PR for the sites are either 4/10 or 3/10 and has over 4500 IBL for one site alone.
When does Google find this suspicious and since the sites have no age value i wonder how Google can rate these sites so highly, considering a large proportion of the IBL are not related the industry at all.




Any help is much appreciated.
Sheeba

I don't think that the primary problem is a "webmaster" issue. It is intellectual property theft and that is the domain of the business owners.

I would report this quickly to them for their action. It is their fight not yours. You can advise about what can be done in the search engine marketing area - such as filing DMCA complaints, etc. But the call is theirs, not yours.

Do not take action without explaining exactly what you will do and the consequences.

They may be up for a fight and aggressive as a mad bear... or they may decide upon a more deliberate response - after consulting their attorneys.

Also, the cost of legal advice is for them to weigh. They may have attorney on retainer, an attorney cousin, and the cost of legal advice is probably less costly than you think. The cost of screwing up can be enormous.

Thank you,

I have been consulting with my client regularly over this matter, (which started 2 months ago, yet proved problematic a month ago) , the legal expenses are too much atm as he has sole custody of his son and many related expenses regarding health etc.. So for now that option may have to be eliminated. (Australian custody laws and maintenance laws differ significantly to the US)

I am looking into filing a DMCA complaint application atm at the glorious hour of 3.50am.
Do the products have to be copyrighted or patented to file a DMCA complaint?

I will always make sure that my client is fully informed of all actions taken, and discuss them all fully prior so he has full understanding.



Sheeba

I did just a quick read through the above, but I think you may just be in a competitive situation. I can't, at least on the surface, see where anything illegal is being done.

My understanding is that they are using the same model numbers as your employer. NOT claiming they are your employer or has his products, i.e. counterfeiting the product(s). If this is the case, unless you have the model numbers trademarked, I doubt if you are going to be able to stop his/her unethical behavior. Unethical behavior is not necessarily illegal behavior.

A legal review is necessary to determine options. Unless there is an obvious violation of Google's TOS and/or an illegal act, there is not much you are going to be able to do except compete.

They are using a photo taken of a Beckett Skimmer manufactured by my clients business, that they purchased from my client, and are advertising it as being built by their business.

There are no copyrights to the Beckett Skimmer, though it can be proven that it was made by my client due to the specific aesthetic details added that are unique and individual to his range, that clearly be seen in the photo on the competitors website.

Point is... are they actually copying your clients product in manufacturing and putting your clients labels on the product and selling it as if your client produced it? If so, they can be stopped.

If they are only using a photo of your clients product as a representative sample of their product(s) possible appearance... I agree, it is unethical, but it is likely not illegal.

In the past I have actually used competitors products, without their permission, in television, magazine and newspaper ads. They were upset because we were comparing our product to their product features and in pricing. Attorneys made money, but we were able to use their product images. Same concept... you can use images without permission as long as they are not copyrighted or constitute an invasion of privacy.

The competitor has finally agreed to remove to image

And offered to sell all of my clients products on all of their sites and remove any competing products from any other manufacturers (local or O/S) from their catalog's!!!

The plot thickens....

I think that all this started because my client refused several times to allow the competitor to sell his product in the early days of production, knowing that he was an unethical business man. And has since focused on trying to lure people deceptively to his sites.



Thank you to everyone that offered support with this situation.

Got to agree with egol, the main arguments are legal and IP property issues. Those need to be resolved in a court of law and not by google.

Yes there are secondary SEO issues, but dont get called into them. I had a similar issue with a client last year, and ended up with him asking me legal advice.

The only response is.

"Im not a lawyer im not trained or qualified to give you this advice, and I suggest you talk to relevant legal council."

When the issue is resolved legally then work out the SEO implications after.

It will never cease to amaze me what people will do.

What has surprised me is that Google hasn't picked up on over 4500 IBL's to one of his sites alone that has been up for a couple months, many that are not related to the industry, nor have they acknowledged the duplicate content sites, and the directories that don't check for the required reciprocal links (as there are no reciprocal links on any of the sites when a check of the directories he is listed on many require one).

Hopefully Google will penalize the ones at fault...