Nominative Use (Why We Can Name Vendors)

Nominative fair use is the trademark principle that lets a publication name a brand in order to talk about it — including critically. It is why our vendor reviews use vendor names, quote their advertised numbers, and compare them against their published COAs without partnership or permission. The obligations run the other way: be accurate, do not imply endorsement that does not exist, and verify claims against the vendor’s own live site at write time. Reviews on this site follow those rules, which is also why an unaffiliated vendor can (and sometimes does) earn a better verdict than an affiliated one.