ZL files fresh libel complaint against Gartner

US— Software firm ZL Technologies has filed a new libel complaint against IT researcher Gartner, after an earlier complaint was dismissed by a court last month.

The complaint, filed in a US district court in San Jose on Friday, centres on Gartner’s classification of ZL as a “niche” vendor in its Magic Quadrant reports.

District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled in early November that Gartner’s reports consituted “non-actionable opinion” which could not be the basis of a libel suit, but ZL argues that Gartner presents its analysts’ opinions as being “based on a body of fact”.

ZL said in a statement that its amended complaint “clarifies” its contentions about the content of Gartner’s reports, and alleges an “inherent conflict of interest” because of the business Gartner conducts with many of the firms whom it reviews.

A spokesperson for Gartner told Research today: “We are aware that ZL Technologies has re-filed an amended complaint regarding its location in a Gartner Magic Quadrant even though its initial complaint was dismissed. We continue to consider ZL Technologies’ allegations to be completely without merit and intend to move to dismiss them again in the courts. We remain committed to providing our clients with independent research and advice about the products that we cover.”

ZL seeks an injunction as well as compensatory and punitive damages from Gartner.

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.

The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.

Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.

For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.

Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.

0 Comments


Display name

Email

Join the discussion

Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest insights and trends...
Sign Up
Latest From MRS

Our latest training courses

Our new 2025 training programme is now launched as part of the development offered within the MRS Global Insight Academy

See all training

Specialist conferences

Our one-day conferences cover topics including CX and UX, Semiotics, B2B, Finance, AI and Leaders' Forums.

See all conferences

MRS reports on AI

MRS has published a three-part series on how generative AI is impacting the research sector, including synthetic respondents and challenges to adoption.

See the reports

Progress faster...
with MRS 
membership

Mentoring

CPD/recognition

Webinars

Codeline

Discounts