Dear Abel and Sofi: How Can I Stop My Competitor From Stealing My Ideas?
About Dear Abel and Sofi: While our Q&A Forum addresses 1,000+ public questions weekly, we wanted to give our small business owners an outlet to anonymously share the kinds of frustrations, fears and private struggles few people express openly. Father-daughter duo Abel and Sofi co-author the column, bringing diverse perspectives to both professional and personal problems. A serial entrepreneur and counselor, Abel, 65, is known for his empathy and his uncanny understanding of many issues. Co-owner of a salon, Sofi, 28, has a younger, more candid approach to life’s challenges. To submit your anonymous questions, click here.
Dear Abel & Sofi,
What advice do you have for me when my competitor is after my ideas? He uses my company name in a twisted way in advertising to promote himself. I spoke to an IP attorney about it and he said there is nothing I can really do about it. To say the least, I think that is very unfair.
I spend time and money to create marketing collateral. I spend hours, sometimes days, thinking about what I want to "create," "design," and "present." Then I spend more time to develop my creation and I usually produce attention-grabbing material. Next, he copies and posts my collateral on his online platforms.
He constantly sends me fake quote requests and does not stop his other nuisance time-killing spying attempts (like multiple phone calls per week). There is more... But let's just suffice it to this.
What advice do you have for me??
SOS, please!
ABEL: Dear SOS, Thanks so much for reaching out. God knows, it’s hard enough to run a successful small business without a competitor using your creative for his promotions! Frankly, this situation is bordering on insanity at this point. (I’m not saying you’re insane, of course, but I am saying this would make me crazy, personally).
We’ll talk more about your competitor in a second. But first, let’s start with the attorney. Now, I’m no lawyer, but I can’t imagine why this one isn’t at least issuing a Cease & Desist letter for you. That’s usually what happens in these situations and sometimes that note alone – on a lawyer’s letterhead – is enough to get the offender to stop being offensive. So my first suggestion is to talk to another attorney (or two) about it. (As an aside, we might have a few attorneys weigh in below in the comments. Depending on what they say, you might find some other people to hire to help you).
Regarding your marketing collateral, I know how much time and effort that takes to produce. As a small business owner, you’re putting your heart and soul into those pieces. To see them converted into something your competitor uses is beyond outrageous.
That said, let’s take a moment to look at the situation differently. In fact, some problems force you to come up with solutions you would never usually consider that could turn lemons into lemonade.
With that in mind, have you thought of this as an opportunity to truly promote not only your services, but yourself? I know many small business owners hesitate to promote themselves, but in this case, it might be another line of defense.
Hire a professional photographer, get a new haircut, tap the services of a makeup artist and get some new outfits. Take half a day and make sure to have a fun and productive photo session wearing many different clothes. Then include your new, very professional image -- front and center -- in many of your materials. Make it impossible for the competitor to edit you out of these promotions.
Ultimately, it’s your talent, education, personality and everything else about you that truly differentiates your business, so don’t be shy about showing everyone who they’re about to hire. (Unless your competitor has serious vision issues, I don’t think he’ll continue to use your materials to promote his business if your image is a major aspect of the design).
I hope your situation changes for the better very soon, through these suggestions and others that this column could inspire.
All the best, Abel
SOFI: Hi SOS, Ugh, this situation sounds like a real bummer. I’m sorry you’re experiencing this, especially since you’ve worked so hard to build your brand.
You’ve probably heard the old expression “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” And of all the businesses to copy, they picked yours. They want to emulate your brand, because they are threatened by it.
I’d use that to your advantage! Revamp your marketing materials, so they showcase what sets your brand apart from the imitators (which is a great way to call them out in a subtle way). You are the key factor that makes your company different, so be sure it’s clear exactly why you are unique by illustrating your years of experience in the industry and proven track record of success.
While they can copy your marketing materials and slogans, they can’t copy you, your staff, or the experience and results you deliver to your customers. Instead of focusing so much on what they are doing, spend more time concentrating on what else you can do to really set your brand apart.
Update your services, try out new options to help optimize the return you give your customers, and make sure your customer service is always top-notch.
Finally, use your customers to your advantage by turning your happy customers into your biggest advocates. Have them create video testimonials and make sure they call out you and your team by name. Encourage them to write reviews for you on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and, of course, Alignable, too. These testimonials and customer experiences will set your brand apart - not a billboard or TV ad, so make sure their voices are heard.
Wishing you lots of luck, and success, in the New Year!
Cheers! 🥂
Sofi
Comments (1-10)
Certainly a cease and desist letter could put your competitor on notice that you are aware of his actions. However, unless you have something to actually protect (intellectual property) it may only be construed as an empty threat. As others have said, I think you need to inject yourself into your marketing materials, and get away from whatever is making your intellectual property generic. Also you could invest time and money in trademarking your brand with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and then any future use of your marketing materials could be infringement and then you could sue your competitor.
Best of luck.
(NOTICE: I am not an attorney, so this is not legal advice) You said that your competitor "copies and posts" your collateral online. By law, anything you create has a copyright on it, regardless of whether you put a copyright notice on it. You may be able to file a notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) with the HOSTING company or social media site where the content is being posted by your competitor. They will remove the context and then notify the competitor of your claim.
The law allows certain fair uses of your copyrighted materials. So, for example, it could be quoted in a research paper, or a competitor could quote you to say that you were wrong. Satire is also a protected use under the law. BUT, if the competitor is simply copying your text or graphics, etc., and passing them off as their own, then you can probably get the content taken down. So, for example, if the competitor is creating silly memes that mock your company using your own content, that may actually be a protected use. But if the competitor copies a lengthy description of your product line and uses it directly as the description for their own product line, that is probably a copyright violation.
Hosting and social media companies generally RESPOND almost instantly to a properly formatted DCMA claim and remove the content within 24 hours, in my experience. Why? Because the law protects them from liability claims for that content is they do respond, but makes them liable for damages if they do not.
It is very important to note that when you file a notice under the law, you have to be precisely accurate. ANYTHING you claim which is wrong could cause a counter-claim for damages from the party who is stealing your content. The notice should clearly identify the OFFENDING comment, and give a reference to the ORIGINAL SOURCE (your content) from which it was copied.
For your first DMCA notice, it is probably worth having an attorney draft a template for you (and explain the risks of what can and can not be claimed).
Don't worry about the competition. Worry about your own business.
Branding is everything. Move the needle forward everyday. Innovation, passion, customer service. They will never catch up.
Remember, the sincerest form of flattery is someone imitating you.
Best regards with all your endeavors. Personally, I would not be concerned.
I have had this happen to me, with a local Children's store that opened 15 years after my store. I sent a cease and desist letter, she kept it up. In our case the store went after our vendors and demanded any vendor they used, could never do business with us. Bottom line some people in business are mean spirited and jealous. i suppose you just keep doing what you can and when it comes to the point when you no longer can tolerate the business using your ideas, you sue them. Unfortunately, what should happen is business should work together, we all know we share our customers, so why not make a friendly environment where the customer get the best from several business.
I never think about people stealing my ideas .I would not put that thought out to this universe .I am only in competition with myself .I am on this planet to expand and be the greatest version of myself. It's a compliment if someone wants to copy my ideas .I must be on the right track if they take notice of me .I believe this year we all will get a chance to bring what we desire into fruition .This is the best time to put the foot to the petal and charge forward. Oprah never looks at competition she is always onto the next thing .She says it waste precious time .
We had a competing salon who did the same thing, for quite a few years, as they quickly grew to multiple locations. We opted to continue to focus on authentically being the best we could while trusting that copycat karma would take care of our competitor. One by one, each of their locations eventually closed it's doors. The lesson we learned was that most customers can recognize shady behavior. It may affect our businesses negatively, in the short term, but branding is a long game and in the long run, honest brands always stand out as a good choice to consumers!
I have a saying I used quite a bit with my U19 Canada Games Men's Softball Team many years ago. "life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to what happens! In situations like this you must focus on what you can control and not dwell on what you can't. Otherwise all your positive energy gets wasted on things that give no positive results.
The answer is very simple and does not involve copyright, trademark or patent law, none of which are applicable to your situation. Retain suitable counsel to file a case alleging Lanham Act violations against this party. The Lanham Act is a federal statute that is essentially the equity side of the trademark laws and prohibits, among other things, "reverse passing off" if it is likely to create confusion in the marketplace. You will be able to obtain equitable relief as well as damages, if you can prove them.
Get a spoof phone account and drive him crazy with phone calls relevant to what he is doing to YOU. You could tell him youre a TV producer looking to televise a segment on businesses that copy others businesses. Unfortunately these days the Attorney route can be (IS) way to cost prohibitive. You gotta think OUTSIDE the box. You might even pay someone a few bucks to act as an Attorney and give them a script. "Yes, Hello im joe blow and i represent acme company. I am a Business consultant hired to address the current situation they find themselves in with your egregious ILLEGAL behaviour." And go from there. It can be VERY effective. Ive used it with collecting invoices for others. No need to lie and say you're an attorney. Just sound like one. Sending an email with Case # X45 Y2 in the subject line. Stuff like that. Tough times deserves tough measures. Sorry if this offends anyone's sensibilities. I once heard, "Business is war without the bullets." And have experienced such. Cheers!
DB