Facebook is trying to expand its trademark rights over the word “book” by adding the claim to a 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). That’s how Facebook can try to claim ‘book.’” If you see a ™ next to a name, that indicates an unregistered, claimed trademark, whereas an R in a circle signifies a registered one, McGeveran notes.
Facebook Asserts Trademark on Word ‘Book’ in New User Agreement
Mar 26, ’12
8:32 AM
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6 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.Has George Orwell weighed in on this one yet?
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Here’s a list of reasons why that’s ridiculous.
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Didn’t Facebook get the idea from MacBook?
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The very first time this goes to court, Facebook will be slapped with heavy fines. Common words like “book” *cannot* be trademarked.
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While not really wanting to weigh in on FB’s side (I mean, who would?) I suspect the intention is more to stave off ‘infringements’ from businesses/ campaigns/ other brand users that really do try to leverage FB’s brand reputation in using a -book suffix. (I can think of a few plausible examples – how about a ‘Fuckbook’ or ‘Pornbook’ brand? Or an anti-FB campaign like ‘Shitebook’ or ‘Arsebook’?) By establishing a trademark claim FB would – if nothing else – have an additional legal weapon in their arse(nal).
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Ha, I didn’t even know ‘Arsebook’ existed when I wrote that…! Fuckbook, too, I see… Fancy that.
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