I don't know if this is the right place to post this. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I want to know at what point another company can sue you, for stealing their intellectual property. Reason I'm asking is this. We created a site that serves the same function as another site (function being, listing cars that are for sale). Our competition is threatening to sue us, for stealing their intellectual property. I had a look and yes, there are similarities (email me at ardi@namhost.com if you want links to the actual sites). There are similarities, but ultimately, our site offers so much more.
I remember a while back that a German community site got sued for copying Facebook. And they lost. So, my question is, at what point does it become a copy of another site. I mean, surely I can open as many community sites as I want, and so can any other company. And of course there will be similarities. I mean, Facebook doesn't OWN the concept of having an inbox. Obviously they can't sue me if my site has an inbox. So, I want to know, does my competition have valid points. I.e. Can they sue us? And if they can't, why not?
Also, who can give me a definite answer as to whether or not I am sue-able?
