Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: Internet Advertising

You can certainly make a factual statement on your website that a particular store is having a sale, mentioning when, etc.

Be cautious, however that you don't try to piggy back your own products or services on the store's trademarks.

Re: Internet Advertising

What you can't do is use their trademark in an unauthorized manner or commit libel (saying something bad about them in print). Reporting something factual like a newspaper would do is generally not problematic. You also don't want to make it sound like you are affiliated with the trademark holder or your website is approved by them. An interesting example was a case that arose concerning Volvo's trademark. A repair shop named its business "XYZ Volvo Repair" and Volvo claimed infringement on their rights. In fact, they could not call the shop "XYZ Volvo Repair" because it implied that Volvo was aware of their repair business and sanctioned it as a good place to send your business. On the other hand, calling it "XYZ Auto Repair" and just underneath in big letters advertising "We Specialize In Volvo's" did not infringe on Volvo's trademark. If you have any question related to specific content, consult an intellectual property attorney.