use of brand names on site

[stng]

What is the name of your state? california

Our web design group currently has a verbal agreement to design an e-commerce site for an inkjet/toner seller. Our client, who is also based in california, sells products which are compatible with printers such as HP, Epson, etc. On the site, we will be using the printer manufacturer names to associate their compatible products to the printers.

My question is whether we would need permission from HP, Epson, etc to use their names on the site? Or would a standard disclaimer suffice?

 

[divgradcurl]

"My question is whether we would need permission from HP, Epson, etc to use their names on the site? Or would a standard disclaimer suffice?"

First off, a disclaimer will never, ever suffice to protect you if you end up infringing an intellectual property right. If you are violating someone's patent or trademark or copyright, the disclaimer is useless.

That said, your question is somewhat tricky. Your question falls under trademark law. There is a "fair use" defense under trademark law, but it is pretty limited in scope. Basically, you can use a trademark without permission (fair use) if the use is purely descriptive, there is no other way to describe the product, and the use does not imply authorization or approval. So, saying that your ink cartridges would fit a specific HP printer is probably okay under fair use; saying your cartridges are HP compatible would likely not be.

Further, the use of trademarks such as HP, Epson, etc., in the metatags is also a violation of trademark -- you can't use the trademarks to drive traffic to the site.

All that said, you are much better off trying to get permission to use the trademarks -- remember, fair use is a defense to infringement, which means that if they try and sue you, you can use fair use as a defense. You are better off trying to get permission up front. Further, many large companies have published trademark usage policies that may bemore liberal than the actual letter ofthe law.