Ask HN: Actions I can take against a company wanting to clone my SAAS-Website

8 pointsAyKarsi10y ago4 comments

I just found a post on freelancer dot com, asking for 1:1 clone of my companies SAAS-Webservice. (The really refer to our domain in the posting)

Though it is flattering, that somebody thinks it is good enough to make a clone of it, and that they thouroughly undeerstimate the complexity of the product, I do fear loosing some of the hard work and money invested.

Any advice or experience on how to go about this?

Update: As I am quite certain by now, that the company posting, is located in our vicinty, the one thing I'd really like to know is who they are. Anybody got experience in getting a name from freelancer dot com?

4 comments

jeffmould10y ago

1. Talk to a lawyer.

2. Do you have any patents or other defensible protection?

3. Build and iterate faster than them so you are the market leader.

4. IANAL, but unless they blatantly copy your site word for word, and image for image, you are going to have a hard time doing anything from a legal perspective (unless it is a past employee or a situation where you may have a NDA or a non-compete in effect).

5. The real fact is there will always be competition, even if it didn't exist when you started, someone is bound to come along. You just have to show more drive, be the better product, and win in the end. Everything else you do is a waste of time/money on your part IMO.

AyKarsiOP10y ago

Re 1 Probabyl to much time and money in the wrong channels..

Re 2: Only a trademark

Re 4: It's seems to be somebody who knows the internals. As they are asking for things, you can't really know unless you've worked with us. We're trying to figure out who is doing the biding..

Re 5: Completly aggree. What they will be lacking is the market knowledge. Before spending money on a lawyer, I'd rather invest that money directly in the product..

jeffmould10y ago

Yep. I wouldn't worry about it. Freelancer.com, etc..., are full of "build a clone" projects. Keep your focus on your project.

hyaene200010y ago

unbelievable... ^^

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

Ask HN: Actions I can take against a company wanting to clone my SAAS-Website

8 pointsAyKarsi10y ago4 comments

I just found a post on freelancer dot com, asking for 1:1 clone of my companies SAAS-Webservice. (The really refer to our domain in the posting)

Any advice or experience on how to go about this?

4 comments

jeffmould10y ago

1. Talk to a lawyer.

2. Do you have any patents or other defensible protection?

3. Build and iterate faster than them so you are the market leader.

AyKarsiOP10y ago

Re 1 Probabyl to much time and money in the wrong channels..

Re 2: Only a trademark

Re 4: It's seems to be somebody who knows the internals. As they are asking for things, you can't really know unless you've worked with us. We're trying to figure out who is doing the biding..

Re 5: Completly aggree. What they will be lacking is the market knowledge. Before spending money on a lawyer, I'd rather invest that money directly in the product..

jeffmould10y ago

Yep. I wouldn't worry about it. Freelancer.com, etc..., are full of "build a clone" projects. Keep your focus on your project.

hyaene200010y ago

unbelievable... ^^

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse