tinyurl.com/7j94c9e -> arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/facebook-asserts-trademark-on-word-book-in-new-user-agreement.ars
Jon Brodkin | Published March 23, 2012 12:20 PMLast updated March 23, 2012 7:53 PM Facebook asserts trademark on word "book" in new user agreement Facebook has trademarks on its name and many variations of it--including the letter "F". The company is expanding its claim over the word "book".
newly revised version of its "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities," the agreement all users implicitly consent to by using or accessing Facebook. You may recall that Facebook has launched multiple lawsuits against websites incorporating the word "book" into their names. Facebook, as far as we can tell, doesn't have a registered trademark on "book." But trademark rights can be asserted based on use of a term, even if the trademark isn't registered, and adding the claim to Facebook's user agreement could boost the company's standing in future lawsuits filed against sites that use the word. "Unregistered marks are quite common in the US," University of Minnesota Law Professor William McGeveran told Ars. "Rights arise from use, not registration (though registration does give you some other advantages).
current Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, you'll find this sentence: "You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, Wall and 32665), or any confusingly similar marks, without our written permission." If you're wondering, 32665 is the number allowing Facebook users to update their pages through text message.
newly revised user agreement reads as follows (emphasis ours): "You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, Book and Wall), or any confusingly similar marks, except as expressly permitted by our Brand Usage Guidelines or with our prior written permission." Not accepting the terms isn't really an option for anyone with a Facebook account. "By using or accessing Facebook, you agree to this Statement," the document says. Facebook gobbles up trademarks on variations of its name A search of the trademark database maintained by the US Patent and Trademark Office shows Facebook with 73 active trademarks, many of them covering different uses of the words "Facebook" and "like."
abandoned the application in February 2012 after an unfavorable decision by the trademark review board. Facebook has a pending trademark application on "book" listed in the European Union's trademark database, but the current status is "application opposed" with "likelihood of confusion" listed as the reason for opposition. There are already numerous European trademark claims over "book," but in different contexts than the social media one claimed by Facebook. Status of lawsuits Facebook filed against other "books" We contacted Facebook yesterday afternoon, and haven't heard back from the company. Facebook has had mixed results when asserting trademark rights over "book" in court.
How the new user agreement helps Facebook assert the trademark Clearly, Facebook wasn't shy about asserting trademark rights on "book" before today. But updating its user agreement gives the company added ammunition in litigation.
"They hope that by putting it in TOS (terms of service) they can improve the enforceability of their asserted trademark rights," McGeveran said. The "book" addition to the user agreement isn't as strong as a registered trademark or copyright, but provides extra protection, says intellectual property attorney Denis Ticak of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP in Cleveland, Ohio. The difference is that instead of extending to anyone who infringes upon the trademark, the user agreement covers only people who actually use Facebook--which, of course, is a substantial percentage of the population of Earth. "So, it offers some layer of protection against use of 'book' in, say, a company or website name.
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