In the age of digitization and developed marketing in the network, it is vital for business development to take care of the good reputation of the company, also on the Internet. A common phenomenon is discrediting the company's good reputation on websites or social media.
It does not have to be a manifestation of any constructive criticism or discontent of customers, it may be an intentional act of unfair competition. However, there are legal tools to protect against violations of the company’s good name. They should be taken without delay so as not to expose their company to image and financial losses.
Legal protection of a company which is awarded by a civil code is a protection which is not only granted to legal persons (such as limited liability company, joint stock company, foundation, association) or defective legal persons (e.g. public partnership or limited partnership), but also to single-member economic activities.
What Personal Goods Are
The Civil Code does not specify in such a way exhaustive the values to be considered personal goods. The catalogue remains open, leaving the possibility to "discover" and thus extend the scope of values protected by civil law.
Supreme Court in judgment of 9 June 2015 on the reference no. I CSK 16/14, LEX No. 1621771, stated that the personal welfare of legal persons – which is equivalent to the personal welfare of natural persons in the form of external worship (good name) – is considered to be good fame, also sometimes referred to as a good name, as in the case of natural persons. The good name of the legal person is combined with the opinion that other persons have on it because of its scope of activity.
Infringements of well-known entrepreneurs can take place both in the public sphere, via mass media or on the Internet, as well as in private meetings, in talks with competitors or potential customers.
Among other things, actions that undermine the company's good name may be the dissemination of an unjustified negative assessment of the services or activities of the company, the conversing of the current financial and economic situation of the entrepreneur, or the formulation and further transmission of incorrect information concerning employees or the company's authorities.
Personal property will therefore be harmed by any action that exposes the company to the loss of trust necessary for its business and good reputation, endangering the company's position on the market.
What protection is granted in the event of a breach of a good company name?
In order to stop the dissemination of information that violates the company's good name, it is important to react quickly in order to remove the discrediting alert.
First, it is necessary to determine who is the administrator of the Internet portal on which an alert that violates the company's personal property is published. Following the above findings, a request should be sent for the removal of an alert that violates the good name of the company.
The call should also include a request for the website administrator to provide an IP address from which the content affecting the company's personal property has been published in order to carry out further claims from the person who committed the breach.
A person infringing the company's personal interests may request:
- non-compliances (in this case, cessation of publication of negative company alerts)
- the removal of the consequences of the infringement, (here the removal of the breaching company's reputation)
- to make a statement of content and in appropriate form (e.g. publication on the portal on which the malignant alert was posted, a statement on the admission of false claims about the company).
Entrepreneurs are also entitled to certain property claims under Article 24(1) and 2 c.:
- a claim for payment of a monetary compensation for the damage suffered or for payment of an appropriate monetary sum for the stated social purpose;
- a claim for compensation on general principles, where by unlawful action of a person third There's been some damage to the company.
The fee on the application in the case of non-commercial redress shall be 600 PLN, On the other hand, when demanding payment for social purposes, compensation or general compensation, the application fee is based on the Civil Court Costs Act dated 28 July 2005 (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1125).
In the event of a passive attitude of the perpetrator, after a summons has been issued, it will be necessary to bring an action for the protection of personal property together with a request for the protection of the claim.
According to the civil law procedure on the protection of personal property, the burden of proving the infringement and the fact of its illegality lies with the floods, which is why it is so important to complete the evidence. For example, in the case of an online entry, you should first take a screenshot of the negative statement.