internet trademark texas identity-theft misconduct
business intentionally hijacking search traffic of competitor
<p>Texas: Successful small business working on search engine optimization / link back / search elevation... I determine major provider (yellowpages) has entry for us. Lists us by old address, and clicks to 'visit website' take you directly to competitor. So we contacted yellowpages, and found the listing was made by the competitor and registered to an email address at their domain. Competitor is a nationwide corporation. A few simple searches verifies they did it to all of the business of like type and NOT yellowpages clients.</p>

<p>Obviously this is @#!$ business practice, but does it actually violate law (Texas or Federal / Both)?</p>

<p>I don't know if this violates any state law. But linking from the name of one business to a competing site has been held to be trademark infringement under US Federal trademark law. Obviously this is only true if the name is protected as a trademark. Also, trademark infringement is a tort, not a crime. The damaged business would need to bring suit, or at least threaten to,  to achieve any result. Bringing such a suit would almost certainly involve hiring a lawyer with experience in that area.</p>
