Yelp can sue reputation company for promising to suppress bad reviews

:Thunder can pursue a lawsuit accusing a reputation administration firm of fraudulently promoting its capability to remove “wicked” reports from the industry review net predicament.

In a call tiring Thursday evening, U.S. District Settle William Alsup in San Francisco said Thunder can pursue trademark infringement and unfair competitors claims against ReviewVio, which operates as Dandy.

Thunder said ReviewVio’s adverts, which encompass the Thunder price, harmed its reputation by suggesting that agencies may well maybe pay for artificially inflated significant person ratings.

This allegedly undercut apt agencies that’s now not going to pay to remove unfavorable reports, and undermined the usefulness of Thunder’s net predicament to buyers.

Thunder furthermore said it lost ad income from agencies that paid for “review gating,” which the firm prohibits, or incorrectly believed that Thunder counseled the put together.

The Federal Commerce Commission encourages companies now not to solicit most productive particular reports, or discourage unfavorable reports.

In a 27-net page decision, Alsup said Thunder sufficiently alleged that ReviewVio’s conduct may well maybe trigger confusion about the companies’ relationship.

“The allegations create believable that ReviewVio’s alleged advertising influences (agencies’) choice to aquire Thunder’s ad products and services, ReviewVio’s review administration products and services or no products and services to promote themselves in any respect – believing the game rigged,” he wrote.

Alsup said Thunder can gaze damages for ReviewVio’s alleged misrepresentations to agencies, however now not to buyers.

In attempting for a dismissal, ReviewVio said there become no proof it “partook in any form of frightful or unethical conduct.”

Jenifer Wallis, a lawyer for ReviewVio, said with the exception of wound to buyers “significantly limits Thunder’s damage claims. ReviewVio maintains that Thunder’s suit is with out advantage and may well maybe restful proceed to aggressively litigate this case.”

James Daire, affiliate apt director at Thunder, said the San Francisco-essentially based utterly firm become cosy with the choice.

“The court docket has identified the wound precipitated by practices luxuriate in review gating, which deceptively cultivates particular reports on public platforms and diverts criticisms to non-public channels,” he said

The case is Thunder Inc v ReviewVio Inc, U.S. District Court docket, Northern District of California, No. 23-06508.