TechCrunch brings us just a little bit more news about Facebook. It is in court once again. It doesn’t have to do with them getting sued by TeachBook or PlaceBook by using “book” in its name. Now, Facebook is attempting to trademark the word “face,” picking up where U.K. business CIS Internet Limited left off in 2008. Facebook hopes to move forward with things. It already bought CIS’s trademark application.
The trademark Facebook wants
It isn’t really really surprising that Facebook wants to trademark “face”. In terms of corporate branding, trademarks are a big deal, but occasionally things get just a little out of hand. Once a man tried to trademark “ganja.” That was an interesting court case. ”NSFW” was what Fark.com tried to trademark once. Snookie from “The Jersey Shore” also tried to trademark her nickname. There is a good chance Facebook won’t get the “face” trademark it wants.
Aaron Greenspan doesn’t approve
Aaron Greenspan, who claimed to have made Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg, doesn’t think the business “face” trademark move is a good one. Greenspan’s business Think Computer created a mobile payments app called FaceCash, and if Facebook gets its desired “face” trademark, Greenspan would have to pay. Apple would end up having to pay also. This is because of the iPhone 4 app Facetime video calling. Greenberg and no doubt many other entrepreneurs would appreciate being able to use the generic term in naming future products.
Facebook-move on
Considering how aggressive Facebook has been in defending its trademarks in the past, there’s little doubt that it will pursue unlicensed “face” users with atomic fury. Zuckerberg could be on the case of anybody using “face.” Even those who just are innocently creating a fun game, but do not want to make money, will need to be careful. Think of John Travolta and Nicolas Cage within the film “Face/Off,” or the characters in the Kobo Abe novel “Face of An additional.”. See what difference face will make? Then there is the “Dune” books. A Tleilaxu face dancer would have to be worried.
Discover more details on this subject
FACE
tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial and amp;entry=78980756
TechCrunch
techcrunch.com/2010/08/26/trademark-face/
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark
