Comments on: Facebook is Now Officially a Patent Bully

By: Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Dr. Roy Schestowitz — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 23:47:06 +0000

Mike Rowe found out his name is not his.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_vs_MikeRoweSoft

By: twitter

twitter — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 23:20:53 +0000

I suppose they also think they own facepalm and faceplant.

By: Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Dr. Roy Schestowitz — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:45:34 +0000

Facebook does not really litigate over the use of the word “Facebook” but of similar words. Also see this recent case:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36334733/
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article7115651.ece
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2010/06/south_butt_wins_trademark_batt.php
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/12/north_face_sues_teenaged_south.html
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100202/0325398008.shtml

By: Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Dr. Roy Schestowitz — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:42:51 +0000

The issue is that Facebook claims to own the words “face” and “book” and here is just one example among several (more in TechDirt for starters):

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371393,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05079TX1K0000993

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:42:50 +0000

TemporalBeing,

You are more or less correct on trademark law. The rule is use-it-or-lose-it.

However, I don’t necessarily agree that a trademark owner is “forced to litigate” in every situation, despite the owners frequently claiming as much. I mentioned this a little bit in my post about trademark bullies. http://gametimeip.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/bullying-grown-up-sort-of/

Also, trademark law allows owners to protect against “tarnishment” and “dilution” in addition to consumer confusion. The former leads some owners to use trademarks in an attempt to squash criticism (although I’m not saying FB has or hasn’t done this).

Incidentally, what you say about only a court being able to truly say whether the offending party is/is not offending is also true of patent cases.

By: TemporalBeing

TemporalBeing — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:27:34 +0000

While I agree on the patent issue, you have to be fair to everyone regarding Trademarks – if you don’t protect them, you lose them. So FB is forced to litigate over Trademarks – by law – if negotiations break down, or the other party won’t negotiate or listen. Only a court can truly say if the offending party is not-offending – e.g. it’s using it in a real other than what the Trademark was registered for by the owning party.

IANAL, but that is my understanding of Trademark law – however correct or incorrect it may be.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:39:48 +0000

Facebook attacking its opponents with acquired patents certainly is an interesting tactic. While I suspect its more about leverage in the current lawsuit than anything else, the aggressive strategy will be noticed by many others I’m sure.