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Facebook Trademark Infringement Continues To Be A Problem

Facebook Trademark Infringement Update:

Trademark infringement on Facebook and Twitter continue to grow as problems for trademark owners.  Companies who fail to get on the social media juggernaut are now realizing that their company name, brand name or slogan may already have been registered by another Facebook user.  In some instances, the registration of your company name, brand or slogan by a third party may qualify as trademark infringement.  As with all other trademark infringement claims, you need to prove that an average consumer would likely be confused as to source and origin of the goods and services being offered on the Facebook page.  In too many instances, the person who registered your trademark as a Facebook page intended to divert your traffic with full knowledge of your trade mark.

Domain Typosquatting Cases | Cybersquatting Twitter.com

Not surprisingly, the social networking sites are a favorite target for black hat cybersquatting.  Check out this domain typo generator report by Domaintools.com for twitter.com.  While some of the domains in the list are no doubt legitimate, the vast majority are clearly cybersquatting sites with parked pages showing advertisements for social networking ads.   One cybersquatting domainstand.com LLC holds the following domains:

Twitgter.com    Domainstand.com LLC    
Twkitter.com    Domainstand.com LLC    
Tw8itter.com    Domainstand.com LLC    
Twittefr.com    Domainstand.com LLC    
Tw3itter.com    Domainstand.com LLC    
Tw2itter.com    Domainstand.com LLC

UDRP search engine Domainfight.net shows domainstand.com to be a habitual cybersquatter of domain names, with transferred domains in each instance. 

For more information on domain typosquatting cases or tother UDRP respondents who engage in habitual cybersquatting, check these TraverseLegal.com search results for “habitual cybersquatting.”

Trademark Misuse in Facebook, Twitter, and Other Social Media Names

Most by now are familiar with cybersquatting, which is the term used to refer to the bad faith registration and/or use of a third party’s trademark in a domain name.  However, a new form of trademark misuse is rapidly growing.  Whether you want to call it cybersquatting, brandjacking, or some other term, entities are now registering third party trademarks as names on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites.  It appears that the protection offered by these social networking sites are insufficient to redress such trademark misuse, as noted in a recent article titled Trademark Owners Beware: Cybersquatting Spreads to Twitter.  Moreover, the UDRP does not currently apply to situations like this.  As such, trademark owners are left to rely upon common law and federal Lanham Act trademark law.

The Importance of Registering Your URL on Facebook

On Saturday, June 13, 2009, at 12:00 a.m. EDT, Facebook will allow users to create their own URLs for their profiles.  It is extremely important for those who have Facebook pages for their organizations/businesses to register their trademarked name.  Domain Name Wire stressed the rules Facebook will be using to prevent domain squatting from happening.  First, you can never transfer your profile.  Second, there is a trademark policy enforced on Facebook.  Lastly, anyone creating an account after announcement of username availability will not be able to select a username initially.  Once you have your username accepted, this will make it easier to advertise on your business card and in emails.

Protecting yourself and your company from trademark infringement on Facebook

Facebook is allowing personalized URLs to be added to accounts. On Tuesday, June 9, Facebook, Inc., a social networking website company based in the United States, publicly announced that beginning Saturday, June 13th at 12:01 a.m. U.S. EDT, users of the Facebook website will be allowed for the first time to create personalized URLs for their Facebook pages (facebook.com/yourname).  If you do not secure your name or your company name for your facebook page, someone else might do so causing confusion, trademark infringement and raising the possibility of fraud.

Facebook, Inc. has created an online form for rights owners interested in preventing their trademarks from being registered as usernames by Facebook users.

Trademark owners can reserve their trademark on the Facebook platform by submitting relevant information to Facebook, Inc. through their trademark protection contact form, available at Facebook's trademark rights page.  If you have further questions or concerns, please contact Facebook directly or see its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.

For more information about the growing threat to personal names, trademarks and brands on facebook and twitter read "The Growing Threat to Trademarks and Personal Names: Social Network Cybersquatting."

Cybersquatting the Social Networks: A New Trademark Risk

WebProNews has recently published a couple alarming articles concerning name squatting on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. The author, Chris Crum, correctly notes in his article titled “Cybersquatting Goes Social” that cybersquatting continues to be a growing problem on the Internet (see Figure 1.).  However, he brings to light another growing problem that trademark owners face as cybersquatters partake in the unethical and illegal practice of registering trademark protected brands with the popular social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.