TechCrunch brings us just a little bit more news about Facebook. It is in court once again. Now they are in court for a different reason other than using “book” in its name, as they were previously sued by TeachBook and PlaceBook. Facebook wants “face” to be a trademarked name, where the U.K. company in 2008 called CIS Internet Limited left off. Facebook bought an application that was trademarked by CIS and now wants to move on.
Trademark move made by Facebook
It isn’t really really astonishing that Facebook wants to trademark “face”. Occasionally it is very important for corporate branding to make certain you trademark. In this case, it could be a little out of hand. The word “ganja” was once in a court case for trade marking. There was one more ridiculous one. Fark.com tried trade marking “NSFW”. And then there’s Snooki from “The Jersey Shore,” who tried to trademark her nickname so that nobody else could cash in on that train wreck of a brand. Facebook will lose face just like the rest of them for their waste of the legal system’s time.
Aaron Greenspan doesn’t like this
Aaron Greenspan, who claimed to have made Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg, doesn’t think the business “face” trademark move is a good one. Greenspan would end up having to pay Facebook if Facebook gets its “face” trademark because of the mobile payment app called FaceCash that Greenspan’s business, Think Computer, created. So would Apple, whose Facetime video calling app appears on the iPhone 4. Most individuals, including Greenberg, would rather be able to use the word “face” in products.
Facebook needs to move on now
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 will be on the case of everyone using “face.” Even those who just are innocently creating a fun game, but do not want to make money, will need to be careful. Kobo Abe who wrote “Face of Another” may have to be careful. Also, even John Travolta and Nicholas Cage within the movies “Face/Off” will have to watch their backs. See what difference face will make? There wouldn’t even be mercy for the Tleilaxu face dancer from the “Dune” books.
Additional reading
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
