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Vanessa Flint wonders: <<I am writing case studies about customers that use
our product. I reminded our marketing people that we needed to get approval
to use a big computer company's name/logo etc. before we post to our website
and they seemed confused.>>
The problem you raise is potentially important: If you quote a Microsoft
employee as loving your software, you give the impression that Microsoft
itself endorses your product. (Which is why most of the "great course!"
quotes you see on course brochures come from employees of big-name
companies, not from ordinary working schmoes like me.) Even if that's not
your intent, it's easy for readers to misconstrue this as being the case.
Whether or not Microsoft would have a leg to stand on if they sued you is a
matter I leave to the lawyers, but you really don't even want to think about
this kind of issue arising. Best bet is to contact the company's publicity
or communications department and get their _written_ permission to use the
case study; a manager in that department has authority to say "go ahead"
that the employees who form the basis for the case study usually lack. If
they won't grant that permission, you can still report the case study--but
with the company's name removed.
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A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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