Which legal issues might be involved?
While legal issues arising from the fraudulent activity vary depending upon the applicable jurisdiction, the following commonly arise:
Has your trade mark been infringed
A trade mark is any sign that can be represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing your goods or services from those of another. This may include your company name, logo or slogans. While ideally you will have registered your trade marks, you may, depending on the jurisdiction, still have common law rights or other unregistered rights in distinctive signs. If the fraudulent website copies your trade mark or uses one that is confusingly similar, there may be an arguable case of trade mark infringement.
Has your copyright been infringed?
Broadly speaking, copyright protects original creative literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, sound recordings and films. These may include any images, photos, videos or texts on your website. If the fraudulent website has reproduced the whole or a substantial part of your copyrighted material, there may be an arguable case of copyright infringement. Similar issues may be relevant where someone has copied a substantial part of your database.
Has your company been defamed?
The legal definition of defamation varies between jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, defamation requires an untrue statement while in other jurisdictions, defamation is more broadly interpreted.
