Do I need permission from company for listing their name

906 votes

Writing a review about any subject is matter of discretion provided till the time you are writing it as a subject matter expert distinguishing and differentiating the goods and the bad of the product or substance.

For e.g. a magazine for car writes reviews about various upcoming or on road car and people tend to accept it as that is what their job is. In fact the original manufacturers expect their cars to be reviewed by some very good car magazines and so on.

But from the details which you have shared what I presume is you are about to do is of listing the name, contact number and website address and reviewing the same.

Well writing about anything is ok to an extent where it is only professional in terms and do not hampers the interest of the original product manufacturer. But, sharing their personal details such as Name, Address, Contact and WebURL is certainly not allowed unless you have taken due permission from them and is a crime in India.

In case, you wanted to do that or your work necessarily requires this to be there then you shall draft a standard letter and shall sent it to the concerned organisation via post and email informing them about yourself, your work, permission required and how that may not harm their IPR rights or goodwill and will help them in growing their business further.

Advocate Pulkit Prakash LawRato

654 votes

Below is a response to the query you has raised through LawRato.com, please feel free to contact us, should there be any clarifications.

Query: Hi, I am starting a review site which will have many online sites listed. So, can I list the companies with just their name, contact no and website address without their permission? And, if I need permission then to whom I should contact? Thanks.

Response: A review site will basically have two kinds of content, ie., (i) user generated and (ii) self-generated. In the first case, the users shall write their opinion/views about the food/hotel/travel related/website etc. ("Product") based on their experience of the Product. In the second case, the start-up company itself reviews the Product based on their independent analysis, research etc.

In either case, we understand that the Products are the subject of review and in the event your start-up monetizes on these subjects/ Products, you have a duty to take prior consent from the owner of that product.

This requirement does not arise of any fixed/mandatory guideline/s as such, but shall be seen as a precautionary prerequisite to starting a review based start-up, as once the company generates revenue, there may likely be a situation that the owners of the respective Products may claim their share on the same.

We suggest you contact the marketing/sales head of the Products companies for making taking such associations.

In case you are listing the Product for the benefit of the consumers and generating some revenue around it, then the revenue is generated due to these Products, the Product owners shall have a claim over such revenues. However, if you are directly listing the name of the company and contact information and are also duly giving them their credits, the requirement of taking the consent of the Product shall not be so important. Therefore, it essentially depends on the nature of the Products and other relevant factors.

To analyse this proposition in detail, we would request you to get on a call with us, so that we can understand the facts and the issues pertaining to those facts.

Look forward to connecting with you soon.

Regards,
Bhoomika

Advocate Bhoomika Choudhury LawRato