On the question of a business entity’s professional reputation definition

• Alekseenko A.P.

  Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service
  Vladivostok. Russia

This paper is an attempt to construct of the business entities’ professional reputation definition with a glance of its features, which are crucial for its protection and determination of amount of reputational damages compensation as well for litigation. Using legal science methodology the author examined and compared different approaches of understanding professional reputation which prevails today in law and economy science and came to the conclusion that modern definitions of the professional reputation are not suitable to law enforcement because they are uncertain. On the basis of the conducted research the core features of professional reputation are marked and the author’s definition of this phenomenon is proposed. The author argues that defamation influences on contractors and other persons (i.e. investors, consumers) and this causes their unwillingness to enter in a contract with an injured person or stimulates them to make a deal on other terms. The consequence of abovementioned actions of contractors is losses on the side of injured person and decline of the joint stock companies’ market value. The author proposes his own definition of company’s business reputation which could be used to amend Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation “On judicial practice in cases on protection of honor and dignity of citizens, as well as the reputation of citizens and legal persons”.

Keywords: Professional reputation, damages, business company, company law, franchise, nonmaterial values, juridical act.