Protecting Your Trademark in the World of Social Media

These days, businesses of all types are turning to social media as a way to better reach and connect with customers, potential customers and brand fans. And as the number of businesses joining the social media landscape continues to rise, so too does the chance of trademark violations. As the owner of a small- or medium-sized business, is there anything you can do to help protect your trademark in our increasingly social world? The short answer is “yes.” Let’s take a look at the top three things businesses need to know when it comes to protecting your trademark on social media:

Federally register your trademark: The first step to protecting your trademark is ensuring that you have a trademark to protect! By applying for and receiving a federal trademark registration, you’ll be giving yourself a legal leg on which to stand. Registering your trademark with the federal government offers you protection and legal recourse against infringement on existing social media sites, as well as on social media sites that haven’t yet been invented.

Having a federally registered trademark is the “standard” by which most social media sites judge ownership — in fact, most social media sites’ dispute resolution forms ask specifically for your federal trademark number. In many situations, if you’re able to provide them with that number and other information that proves you’re the rightful trademark owner, they’ll take down the offending profile, and/or will transfer the profile name to your ownership. However, before taking any action to protect your trademark (including submitting a dispute resolution form), be sure to consult your trademark attorney. Doing so will ensure that that you don’t inadvertently create liability issues for yourself.

Register/reserve your trademarked name on social media sites: Big brands like Coca-Cola and Nike have teams of people dedicated to finding the newest social media sites and registering or reserving their brand names on those sites. Why? Because these big brands realize it takes far less time (and money) to proactively register their brand name on each site than it does to convince a social media site to “return” a trademarked brand name, litigate a trademark violation or recover from reputation damage brought on by a brand imposter.

While you may not be able to hire a full-time team of social media mavens focused solely on finding new social media sites and reserving brand names on each of those platforms, it’s important that you make some time for social media. For small- and medium-sized businesses, concentrate on reserving your trademarked name on the most popular social media sites including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram — by ensuring you’re registered on the sites that are household names, you’ll be able to avoid most trademark problems. And don’t be afraid to think outside of the box: even something as simple as asking your youngest employee to spend 30 minutes a week reserving your trademarked name on new and emerging social media sites can go a long way toward staking your brand claim in the social media environment.

Police social media for trademark infringement: Federal trademark law requires you to police your trademark for evidence of infringement. In fact, the Lanham Act states that if you don’t police your trademark you could lose your rights to it; if others are infringing on your trademark, you must put them on notice or, over time, your rights will erode.

If you find that someone is infringing on your trademark in social media, work with your trademark attorney to determine your best next steps. You may be able to resolve the issue completely via the social media site’s dispute resolution service, or you may realize that you need to take a more aggressive approach via a cease-and-desist letter or even the filing of a lawsuit. Your attorney will help guide you through the steps that are most appropriate for your specific situation.

Trademarks Protect Your Brand and Your Business in Social Media

Social media offers businesses a variety of ways to connect with customers, but it also opens up a whole new environment for potential trademark violations. By registering your trademark with the federal government, reserving your trademarked name on social media sites and policing your trademark for potential infringement violations, you’ll be taking the steps necessary to help ensure that you protect the health of your brand and your business.