1. The Client's Situation
The client became aware that comparative and defamatory posts and comments aimed at highlighting competing products were being repeatedly posted in online cafes, blogs, and the like, targeting a specific product it manufactures and sells. While these posts took the form of pretending to be actual user reviews, they contained negative expressions without objective grounds and false facts, raising concerns about damage to brand reputation and a decline in sales. In particular, since numerous identical or similar titles, images, and comment patterns were identified, the possibility of organized viral-marketing involvement became an issue. Accordingly, the client requested advice to review measures for immediately blocking the spread of harm and for legal response.
2. Your Legal Team's Advice
Your Legal Team comprehensively reviewed the form, content, and posting channels of the posts to determine whether they were advertisements and whether they were unlawful. We analyzed, step by step, the possibility that they constituted unfair comparative advertising or defamatory advertising under the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising, defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (the Information and Communications Network Act), obstruction of business under the Criminal Act, and a violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. Based on the results, we sent a certified content-proof letter demanding that the unlawful posts be stopped and deleted, and we designed a response structure that could lead, in the event of non-compliance, to a report to the Fair Trade Commission and to civil and criminal measures. In this process, we organized the specific facts in a de-identified manner and presented the response strategy centered solely on the legal issues.
3. Result
Through the certified content-proof letter, the client laid a foundation for preemptively blocking the spread of further posts by making the other party aware of the unlawfulness and applying pressure for immediate correction. At the same time, by preparing multiple legal means—fair-trade, criminal, and civil—the client secured negotiating power and responsiveness. Through this, the client minimized the risk of damage to brand trust and achieved the outcome of reorganizing its internal response standards for similar online defamation and comparative advertising in the future.
Your Legal Team provides comprehensive legal advice on responding to illegal online advertising, drafting certified content-proof letters, fair-trade and defamation disputes, and brand protection.