Protect your trade mark on Facebook
The social networking site, Facebook, is changing the way it records user names.
Currently, a Facebook member’s profile has a URL like www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=123456789.
Facebook has announced that from 12.01am US EDT (2.01pm Australian EST) on Saturday 13 June it will allow members to choose a username on a first-come, first-serve basis, so their URL would be in the form www.facebook.com/blaise.dipersia
There is a risk that people will seek to register third-party trade marks as Facebook usernames. Facebook is allowing trade mark owners to block registration of a username that is the same as their registered trade mark. Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick strongly recommends trade mark owners consider how they will act as soon as possible (before Saturday).
To register your trade mark with Facebook and block the registration of that trade mark as a username, complete the form here. You will require the registered number of your trade mark. You can only enter a single trade mark per submission.
It is unclear how Facebook will deal with different owners of the same trade mark (in different classes and/or different jurisdictions). This could become an issue if one owner wants to register the trade mark as a Facebook username, but finds it blocked by another owner.
This is a timely reminder to trade mark owners to consider registering their trade marks in other online environments.
June 15th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Facebook has advised that they’ll introduce a process for trademark owners to request the use of their blocked username/trade marks over the next few weeks.