Do You Own Your #Hashtags?
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DOYOUOWNYOUR#HASHTAGS?
SARAHISMERT*
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AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS
Nowfullyintegratedintoeverydaylanguage,thehashtaghasbecomeapowerful
marketingtoolforcompanieswishingtopromotetheirproductsandservicesthrough
socialmedia.
#Definition
Doyouknowwhata”hashtag”is?Thisnoveltermcomposedofthewordshashand
tagrepresentsthecombinationofthe”#”symbolfollowedbyoneormoreunspaced
words.Itisamarkingsystemthatallowsuserstotagcontentonsocialnetworks.
#Originand#Use
Theuseofthehashtaghasbeenpopularizedbythemicro-bloggingsiteTwitter,
wherethehashtagwasfirstintroducedin2007
[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/fashion/hashtags-a-new-way-for-tweets-cultural-
studies.html?_r=0],allowinguserstotagandsearchforthelatesttrendsamong
otherusers’publications.Eversince,theuseofthehashtaghasbecomecommonon
othersocialnetworkssuchasFacebook,Google+andInstagram,amongothers.
Thisbegsthequestion:isitpossibletoregisterahashtaganduseitasatrade-
mark?
Hashtagasa#Trade-mark
Atrade-markcanberegisteredusingasign,aword,aletter,anumber,adrawing,a
colororacombinationthereof,todistinguishthegoodsand/orservicesofoneperson
fromthoseofanother.Itisthereforequitepossibletoregistera”hashtag”asatrade-
mark.Moreover,manywordsandphrasesprecededbythehashsymbolhave
©CIPS,2014.*FromROBIC,LLP,amultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheSummer2014(Vol.18,no.1)Newsletterofthefirm.Publication068.178E.
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appearedintheCanadianRegisterofTrade-marksaswellastheUnitedStates
PatentandTrademarkOfficeinthepastyears.
Beyondregistration,inorderforthetrade-marktobeconsideredinuseinconnection
withwaresundertheTrade-marksAct(hereafterthe”Act”),the”hashtag”mustbe
affixedtothewaresthemselves,tothepackagesinwhichtheyaredistributed,orbe
otherwiseassociatedwiththewaresinsuchawaythatapersonisgiventhe
impressionthatthereisalinkbetweenthetrade-markandthewareswhenposession
orownershipofthewaresinquestionistransferredduringthenormalcourseof
business.However,althoughthetrade-markvisuallycorrespondstoa”hashtag”,the
trade-markdoesnotcontainthemetadatamarkingpropertiesifitappearsoutsideof
awebplatform.
ToconstituteuseinrelationtoserviceswithinthemeaningoftheAct,the”hashtag”
shouldbeusedordisplayedintheperformanceoradvertisingofthoseservices.A
publicationbytheownerofatrade-markassociatedwithaserviceadvertisedon
Twitteraccompaniedbya”hashtag”canthereforeconstituteuseofthe”hashtag”as
atrade-markinconnectionwithsuchservice.
#Trade-markInfringement
Cantheuseofaregisteredtrade-markbyathirdpartyonsocialnetworksbe
consideredaninfringementofsaidtrade-mark?
MeasuresImplementedbySocialNetworks
Mostsocialnetworkshavepoliciestoregulatetheuseoftrade-marksinuser-
generatedcontent.
Twitter,forexample,hasaTrademarkPolicy
[https://support.twitter.com/articles/75547-politique-en-matiere-de-marques-
deposees#]providingthattheuseofatrade-mark”inamannerthatmaymisleador
confuseotherswithregardtoitsbrandorbusinessaffiliationmaybeconsidereda
trademarkpolicyviolation”.However,theactof”usinganother’strademarkinaway
thathasnothingtodowiththeproductorserviceforwhichthetrademarkwas
grantedisnotaviolationofTwitter’strademarkpolicy.”Thus,aTwitterusercan
theoreticallyusea”hashtag”thatistheregisteredtrade-markofathirdpartyifhe
doesnotuseitinawaythatcouldmisleadconsumers,forexampleby
misrepresentinghisproductsandservicesasthoseoftheowneroftheregistered
trade-mark.
Twitterprovidesapubliccomplaintsystemallowingownersofregisteredtrade-marks
toreportanyviolationoftheirtrade-marks.Uponreceiptofareport,Twittercantake
measuressuchassuspendingtheaccountinquestion,oraskingtheaccountholder
to”clearupanypotentialconfusion.”
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Facebookhasputinplacea”StatementofRightsand
Responsibilities”
[https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms?ref=pf]governingthe
relationshipbetweenFacebookanditsusers.Itislessdetailedthanthepolicy
implementedbyTwitterregardingtheprotectionoftrade-marks,butitprohibits
Facebookusersfromviolatingtrade-markrightsofotherusers.Thesocialnetwork
alsoprovidesasystemfor”reportingtrademark
infringement”
[https://www.facebook.com/help/440684869305015/].Instagramhasa
similarstatementandreportingsystem.Finally,Google+providesasystemfor
reportingcounterfeitgoods,buthasnospecificpolicyfortrade-
marks
[https://support.google.com/legal/contact/lr_counterfeit?product=googleplus].
#Remedies
Beyondthepoliciesimplementedbysocialnetworks,nothingwouldpreventthe
holderofahashtagregisteredasatrade-marktoturntothecourtsincaseoftrade-
markinfringement.
AccordingtotheAct,apersonowningaregisteredtrade-markcanpreventothers
fromusingthesamemarkforthesamegoodsandservices,orfromusingatrade-
markwhichcouldbeconfusedwiththeirtrade-mark.Theownermayalsoactto
preventthedepreciationofgoodwillandunfaircompetitionrelatedtoitstrade-mark.
However,nodecisionhasbeenrenderedthusfarbyCanadiancourtsonthissubject.
Consideringthefactthattheinterestofusingthe”hashtag”onsocialmediais
widespreadandthatitallowstheexchangeofcontent(andevenitsproliferation),the
desiretolimittheuseofahashtagmayseemcounterintuitive.Lawsuitsthatwill
arise,ifany,shouldparticularlytargetobviouscasesofunfaircompetition.
#tobecontinued
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