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Do You Own Your #Hashtags?

2014-08-06

ROBIC,LLPwww.robic.ca
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DOYOUOWNYOUR#HASHTAGS?

SARAHISMERT*
ROBIC,
LLP
L
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.

2
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.”

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

Pourdesservicesdeconseilsdansledomainedelapropriété
intellectuelleetdestechnologiesdel’informationetdescommunications
(incluantlesservicesd’agentsdebrevetsetdemarquesdecommerce)
demêmequedesservicesjuridiques.

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agroupoflawyersandofpatentandtrademarkagentsdedicatedsince1892to
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NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
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ou«R»
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ouROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
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THETRADEMARKERGROUP
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VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDE
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YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOUR
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MarquesdecommercedeROBIC,S.E.N.C.R.L.poursesservicesde
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*
Forservicespertainingtointellectualproperty,technologyand
communicationlawandrelatedmatters(includingpatentandtrade-mark
agencyservices)aswellaslegalservices.

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theprotectionandthevalorizationofallfieldsofintellectualproperty:patents,
industrialdesignsandutilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksand
indicationsoforigin;copyrightandentertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,
neighbouringrights;computer,softwareandintegratedcircuits;
biotechnologies,pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,know-
how,competitionandanti-trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnology
transfers;e-commerce,distributionandbusinesslaw;marketing,publicityand
labelling;prosecutionlitigationandarbitration;duediligence.
®/MD

COPYRIGHTER
TM/MC

IDEASLIVEHERE
®/MD

ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLUL’INVENTER!
®/MD

LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
®/MD

LEGERROBICRICHARD
®/MD

NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
®/MD

PATENTER
®/MD

orstylizedR
®/MD

ROBIC®/
MD

orstylizedROBIC++++
®/MD

orstylizedROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
®/MD

orstylizedROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
®/MD

THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TM/MC

TRADEMARKER
TM/MC

VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDE
LAPLANÈTE
®/MD

7
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOUR
IDEASTOTHEWORLD®/MD

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