Protection of the business reputation of a legal entity

With the massive development of information technologies around the world, they are becoming more and more accessible to ordinary citizens, because today almost everyone has access to the Internet and various social networks.

However, the more users actively use digital goods, the more often you can find cases of discrediting the image of a legal entity or showing unfair competition.

This contributes to the fact that the topic of protecting the business reputation of a legal entity is very relevant in the modern world.

Therefore, in this article, we will talk about what protection mechanisms Ukrainian legislation provides for the business reputation of a legal entity.

What should be understood by the business reputation of a legal entity?

The current provisions of the legislation of Ukraine are not clear definition of the business reputation of a legal entity, and therefore its interpretation should be based on the general understanding of scientists and judicial practice on this concept.

Thus, the business reputation of a legal entity is understood as a set of opinions, perceptions, and assessments that are formed by the public, customers, and partners about a business entity on the basis of its business activities, existing relationships between employees in the company, as well as the direct fulfillment of assumed obligations.

Thus, it can be said that business reputation is a volatile quantity that can change from time to time. One of the negative phenomena affecting a business’s reputation is the spread of false information about the company.

What are the ways to protect a business’s reputation legal entity?

In total, two main ways of protecting a legal entity can be identified, namely:

• The provisions of Art. 94 of the CCU stipulates that a legal entity has the right to the inviolability of its business reputation, and the protection of such a right is carried out in the same manner as the rights of a natural person. That is, in situations where false information is disseminated about a legal entity, the company has the right to provide an answer regarding this information or to demand from the subject of its dissemination (usually the mass media) a refutation of the disseminated data. In addition, it is worth noting that the answer should not be offensive or humiliating, so as not to violate the provisions of the law;
• Material. If the disseminated false information about the business reputation of a legal entity has caused great damage to the latter, the company can collect compensation from the culprit for the material and moral damage caused. For this, it is necessary to apply to the judicial authority with the appropriate evidence base that the spread of false information has harmed the business reputation of the legal entity. It is also possible to force the person who spread the false information to publicly apologize for the actions taken.

Importantly! If a person massively spreads false information about a legal entity and does not respond to a request for its refutation, then in this case it is necessary to apply to the judicial authorities with a claim to prohibit the distribution of the relevant information.

It will be possible to satisfy the claim if the court establishes the presence of an offense in the person’s actions.

In addition, the statute of limitations does not apply in such cases, the only exception is cases regarding claims to refute false information published in the mass media (in this situation, a special statute of limitations of 1 year applies).

If you want to protect the business reputation of a legal entity, contact the Prikhodko and Partners law firm.

The company’s lawyers have a thorough knowledge of various branches of Ukrainian law, which allows us to provide our clients with proper legal support in any situations arising in practice. So don’t delay and come to us for a consultation!