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It may seem incredible, but it appears that Facebook have been given the go-ahead to trademark the word ‘Face'.
The U.S. Patient and Trademark Office have issued an allowance that says that the company is entitled to a trademark on ‘Face' as it applies to the name FaceBook. To get final approval however Facebook now have to file a Statement of Use that says it will use the trademark in commerce.
This approval means that Facebook can now use the legal system to defend against other companies who are using the word ‘face' or ‘book' in their names. They have been trying to trademark the word ‘face' since 2008 when the company bought the trademark application of Faceparty.com, a U.K. social networking site that launched in 2000 and had applied for the trademark in 2005.
Facebook have sued name stealers such as ‘teachbook' in the federal court in San Jose, California – simply over their use of the word ‘book'. Teachbook is a social networking site for teachers. At the same time in August, travel website Placebook changed their name to TripTrace after being contacted by Facebook.
On a more interesting note, Lamebook, an online parody of Facebook sued Facebook as a preemptive legal strike. Facebook countersued within days.
KitGuru says: If they get this approved to the final stages it will certain strengthen their legal standing.
Interesting post!
It´s funny how domains are not seen as trademarks, but when there is a domain dispute, it´s ALWAYS about a trademark infringement.
I know, domains are not trademarks, however it´s time that trademark lawyers take them seriously, and include them in their brand protection recommendations.