This presentation details Intellectual Property Issues that surround social media. It highlights some of the key trade-mark policies behind Twitter including Twitters trade-mark criteria, impersonation policy as well as how to protect your trade-mark.

1. IT‐CAN
FRASER MILNER CASGRAIN LLP
OCTOBER 6, 2010
IP ISSUES AND SOCIAL MEDIA:
LOOK BEFORE YOU TWEET
Presented by:
Rob McDonald
Partner, Co-chair FMC
National IP Group
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2. TOP TEN TWITTER BRANDS
(Sample during a three day period in April 2009)
1. Starbucks 3.37 millions mentions
2. Google, 1.01 million mentions
3. BBC, 703,000 mentions
4. Apple, 512,000 mentions
5. AIG, 455,000 mentions
6. Amazon, 245,000 mentions
7. Microsoft, 221,000 mentions
8. The Guardian, 211,000 mentions
9. Dell, 185,000 mentions
10. Coca Cola, 135,000 mentions
Note: ‐ Dell generated 1 million dollars by alerting Twitter followers to sale items over the Christmas break.
‐ Many businesses offer exclusive discounts to Twitter followers
‐ Recent studies suggest only 2% of all companies use Twitter and that only 7 of the top 100 brands names are
registered as a Twitter I.D.
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3. TOP TEN TWITTER ACCOUNTS
Followers
1. Lady Gaga 6,634,198
2. Britney Spears 6,088,710
3. Ashton Kucher 5,890,321
4. Justin Bieber 5,591,962
5. Barack Obama 5,586,315
6. Ellen DeGeneres 5,316,411
7. Kim Kardashian 5,002,066
8. Oprah Winfrey 4,362,629
9. Taylor Swift 4,358,652
10.Katy Perry 4,148,441
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4. TWITTER SQUATTING
(User Name Squatting)
• Like domain name cyber‐squatting was in the 1990’s, appropriation of
proprietary user names on social networking sites is problematic;
• User name registration is free;
• Multiple registrations are possible;
• User name for sale accounts are prohibited;
• CNN/James Cox example;
• Social networking sites have internal IP and trade‐mark policies, but no
user name equivalent of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution
Policy (UDRP) exists;
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5. • User name squatting is prohibited by the Twitter Rules.
• “Please note that if an account has had no updates, no profile
image, and there is no intent to mislead, it typically means
there is no name‐squatting or impersonation. Note that we
will not release inactive or squatted user names except in
cases of trade‐mark infringement.”
• “Attempts to sell, buy or solicit other forms of payment in
exchange for user names are also violations and may result in
permanent account suspension”.
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6. • “Name squatting and “user name for sale” accounts will be
permanently suspended. Attempts to sell or extort other
forms of payment in exchange for user names will result in
account suspension. Accounts that are inactive for more than
six months may be revoked without further notice.”
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7. TWITTER TRADE‐MARK POLICY
• “Using a company or business name, logo or other trade‐mark
protected materials in a manner that may mislead or confuse
others or be used for financial gain, may be considered trade‐
mark infringement. Accounts with clear INTENT to mislead
others will be immediately suspended; even if there is no
trade‐mark infringement, attempts to mislead others are
tantamount to business impersonation.”
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8. TWITTER IMPERSONATION POLICY
• “Impersonation is pretending to be another person or entity in
order to deceive. Impersonation is a violation of the Twitter
Rules and may result in permanent account suspension.”
• “Twitter users are allowed to create parody, commentary or
fan accounts. Accounts with the clear intent to confuse or
mislead may be permanently suspended.”
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9. TWITTER CRITERIA
Twitter will consider the following factors in determining
whether name squatting has occurred:
1) The number of accounts created;
2) Creating accounts for the purpose of preventing others from
using those account names;
3) Creating accounts for the purpose of selling those accounts;
4) Using feeds of third party content to update and maintain
accounts under the names of those third parties.
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10. HOW TO PROTECT YOUR TRADE‐MARK
• Register corporate names, trade names, trade‐marks and
brand names with each social networking site;
• Register permutations and combinations of trade‐marks as
user names;
• Review the terms of use of every site and understand rights
and obligations;
• Ensure compliance with terms of use by employees and
licensees;
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11. • Develop and implement internal policies regarding use and ownership of
user names by employees and key personnel;
• Monitor social networking sites to determine if the trade‐marks are being
used inappropriately;
• Report infringements and improper uses, including “user name squatting”
to social networking sites;
• Restrict employee use of social networking sites to prevent disclosure of
confidential or sensitive corporate information, dilution of brand, and
potential defamation and depreciation of goodwill claims;
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12. COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS ON SOCIAL
NETWORKING SITES
• Unauthorized reproduction of copyright work on a social
networking site is copyright infringement unless it falls under
specific exception or if a substantial reproduction has not been
made;
• The party posting the copyright work is liable for infringement;
• The social networking site may be liable for infringement if
they “authorized” the infringement;
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13. • Most sites have “notice and take down” provisions to limit
liability as a service provider;
• Implement internal policies and employment agreements to
prohibit posting of third party copyright material and to define
ownership of content;
• Ownership of user‐
• created content is a significant issue.
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14. QUESTIONS?
Rob McDonald
780 423 7305
Rob.McDonald@fmc-law.com
LinkedIn

15. The preceding presentation contains examples of the kinds of
issues companies looking to increase their activity in social
media could face. If you are faced with one of these issues,
please retain professional assistance as each situation is
unique.