Competitor threatening to sue

[Supercow]

I have recently recieved a letter from one of my companies biggest
competitors, stating the following.

"...recently discovered that your company is advertising against our
name in Google searches. This is a voilation of our company trademark
and I would like your ads removed immediately from searches with the
following terms:
* Company name

I have put *"Company name" as one of our keywords in my Google Ad words
campaign, and I just wanted to know where I stand legally. The advert
in question does not mention them, or compare the two companies in any
way, shape or form. Needless to say, there is also no derogatory
information about said competitor.
Obviously, we don't want to go to court over it.

If any legal eagles or Ad Word fundi's around here, I would greatly appreciate your comments

 

[Supercow]

Get back to them and ask them to give you the exact web address to the said advert. So you can see for yourself. And if it is against their rules, just remove it.
However, if they fail to give you the web site address or any proof of the said advert, then tell them there's nothing you can do as you don't know what they're talking about.

It's a Google Ad words ad I "placed" next to their oraganic web searches for their company name
For example. Google for "Microsoft" and you see adverts on the right hand side for other stuff, well if someone Google's for my competitor, then our advert appears on the right.

 

[Supercow]

but then surely when you google their company it comes up with yours?

Thats the idea

It says in the Adwords control panel that your keywords shouldn't infringe on anyones copywrite/trademark.

Would that imply using their company name then you reckon ?

 

[Supercow]

Cheers for that Borris, the second article is of most relevance and I'll give it a thorough read with my MD.

Cheers

 

[Supercow]

Well then that totally illegal. Didnt BMW just get sued for god knows how much for doing exactly the same thing on Google?

Look at it the other way round, your competitor alters the search engine to return their pages when people type in your name. how would you feel?

Thats not how it work mate.
My advert appears next to their organic search results (links you see in middle), and I am in no way misleading anyone into thinking we are actually said competitor. BMW got nailed, because they used "underhanded tactics" to improve their organic search results, which comes through a process called search engine optimisation.
This is entirely different

 

[Supercow]

I'm not sure. I use a lot of brand names in my adwords but we're a reseller. I think if it's a direct competitor you might be on shaky ground. Have a look at how much business you get from the ad and ask yourself, 'is it worth it?'.

Tis exactly what I thought, and just came to the conclusion that it's not worth while. In the search for answers for this over the last week, I gathered quite a few new tricks n tips, so I'll just implement that in stead.