Legal Question in Business Law in Massachusetts

Re: Can a competitor steal a marketing phrase?

If you did not copyright it and it is not part of a trademark, they can use it. They cannot however stop you from using it since your use predated theirs.

You might want to copyright the phrase and then seek a cease and desist letter from them depending upon how long ago you began to use it.

I work with a very good copyright attorney. If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Re: Can a competitor steal a marketing phrase?

It depends on whether you have obtained legal protection of the slogan, i.e., trademark, tradename, servicemark, or even copyright protection. If not, you may still have some legal rights to enforce, but proving the competitor violated them is more difficult and entirely fact-dependent.

Feel free to contact me to discuss whether you may have grounds to bring enforceable claims, or to explore possible alternative ways to resolve the situation, such as reaching out to the competitor to try to resolve the issue through a lawyer in order to avoid the need for legal claims.

Re: Can a competitor steal a marketing phrase?

It is impossible to answer the question without knowing particulars, and a public forum would not be the best place to do so.

There are a variety of potential issues, including whether the action amounts to unfair competition, etcetera. In any given situation, the outcome may depend upon who took what steps to protect what they considered valuable intellectual property, and when those steps were taken. It will also depend upon whether a phrase was commonplace, etcetera. (E.g., if someone were to google a given marketing phrase, would there be a lot of other hits from other users/the public?)

In the end, the answer will probably be, it depends.

You should contact an attorney if you have made a significant investment in the marketing campaign. (It is a good idea to consult with an attorney before investing in a marketing campaign and or choosing a trade name, trademark, or servicemark. In any event, it is wise to make sure that there are no other conflicting users, e.g. through an internet search, at a minimum, even before consulting with counsel.)