3. Social Media is Exploding
1/30/2015Copyright 2010 TM.Biz
You’ve
heard of :
130 million120 million
120 million
120 million
120 million
But have
you heard
of….
100 million
…and the Thousands of “smaller” niche players
with millions of members each
500 million
160 million
200 million
4. Social Media is Mainstream
1/30/2015Copyright 2010 TM.Biz
• 60% of Internet users are members of Social Media
Networks – PC Advisor
• Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on
the Web – NY Times
• More than 21% of cell phone users visit social media
from their phones - Comscore
• Americans spend 25% of their time online on social
networks - Nielsen
• 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest
brands are links to user-generated content - Nielsen
5. Usernames are the Internet’s New
Brand Identifiers
1/30/2015Copyright 2010 TM.Biz
Evolution Online for Trademark Professionals
200 million domain names (90M are .com)
2 billion usernames on top 20 social networks
25% of search results… are links to user
generated content and this is growing
6. Complication – No Barriers to Obtain
Usernames are:
• Free to obtain
• First come - first served
• Typically have profile pages
• Indexed by search engines
• Receive traffic and can be monetized
• Typically NOT Reused
7. Complication - No Protection Mechanisms
Domain Names - Controlled
Today
• UDRP (Uniform Domain
Resolution Policy)
• WHOIS
• Anti-Cybersquatting
• In-Rem
• Sunrise periods
Coming Soon
• Uniform Rapid Suspension
• Trademark Clearinghouse
• IP Claims
Usernames – UNCONTROLLED
Usernames are the Wild West
when compared to Domain Names
Today
• No Dispute Policy
• No Gatekeepers
• No Group
Coming Soon
• Nothing
• Nothing
• Nothing
8. Complication - Everything Old is New
• Direct infringement
• Derogatory and defamatory speech
• Blatantly false information
• Impersonation of executives
10. Apply the lessons from Domain Names
1/30/2015Copyright 2010 TM.Biz
Best Practice – Be Proactive & Not Reactive
• Reserve your trademarks and key executives as
Usernames
• Identify infringement early
11. The Costs - Business Case
1/30/2015Copyright 2010 TM.Biz
Proactive – Reserve Now
• Package cost ~ $ 349 one
time fee
• Trademark secured on 100
social networks
• Watch the rest
Reactive - Do Nothing
• Assume 50 are taken
• Assume 10 are of concern
• Conduct Investigation
Cost: $500 x 10 = $5000
• Send takedown letters
Cost: $500 x 10 = $5000
• Sub-total cost: $10,000
• 50% success rate (5 of 10)
• Repeat as infractions occur
Cost: $1,000/incident
Example: Secure house brand in top 100 social networks
12. Avoid “I think we have people handling this”
1/30/2015Copyright 2010 TM.Biz
Best Practices Dictates this should be owned by Legal
• This is a trademark protection and enforcement issue
How is it being managed?
Who are keeping the records?
Is it anonymous or public?
Who is ensuring the accounts remain active?
• Domain Name Registrars are not in this business
• Marketing Departments - may address some issues
(quick Free Search on TM.Biz and you’ll know)
13. Evaluate Benefits and Risks
1/30/2015Copyright 2010 TM.Biz
Proactive
Avoid confusion
Avoid loss of revenue
Avoid embarrassment
Avoid damage control
Far less expensive than
recovery/clean-up efforts
Reactive
Consumer confusion
Loss of revenue
Loss of reputation
Legal fees
Recovery may not be
successful
14. 1/30/2015Copyright 2010 TM.Biz
• Reserve trademarks and key executives as
usernames
• Include social media availability searches for all
new name creation efforts
• Monitor for emerging social networks to avoid
surprises
• Investigate “taken” usernames for trademark
infringement
TM.Biz Allows you to
15. Sign-Up Now
1/30/2015Copyright 2010 TM.Biz
15
Eligible trademark professionals and brand
managers can request a free account at:
http://www.tm.biz
There are no set-up fees or subscription fees
Unlimited searching – you pay only for
reports
Notes de l'éditeur
We all know Social Media is taking over online and we know the usual suspects There is a wave coming behind that gaining momentum even more quickly and then behind that there is another wave of new players and niche players. It can seem overwhelming and just like websites in the mid 90s something some folks would like to ignore but as we learned then that would be a mistake
That would be a mistake because Social Media is already mainstream This final point is probably the most important to Trademark Professional because Social Media has now reached the tipping point
So if you put all the pieces together its very clear that when compared to Domain Names Usernames are gaining parity as the Internet’s
So this creates some now complications and issues for trademark professionals. T
When compared to Domain Names what thi
Finally everything old is new. The issues for usernames are the same issues you always face with trademarks
Learn from the past
It makes sense to be proactive…. Protecting yourself is simple and costs next to nothing when compared to doing nothing now and dealing with it downstream.
It could also be a mistake delegating to others. We learned these lessons with Domain Names as well
At the end of the day you need to look at the pros and the cons for your businesses and clients