Trademarks and Social Media : Enforcing Rights without Alienating your Customers

2011-01-01

ROBIC,LLPwww.robic.ca
info@robic.com
MONTREAL
1001Square-Victoria-BlocE-8thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:+1514987-6242Fax:+1514845-7874QUEBEC
2828LaurierBoulevard,Tower1,Suite925
Quebec,Quebec,CanadaG1V0B9
Tel.:+1418653-1888Fax.:+1418653-0006

TRADEMARKSANDSOCIALMEDIA:ENFORCINGRIGHTSWITHOUT
ALIENATINGYOURCUSTOMERS
V
INCENTBERGERON*
ROBIC,LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS

Aggressivelyenforcingone’srightsinsocialmediamightnotbetheidealapproach
fortrademarkownersanymore.Howaresocialmediachangingourapproachto
trademarkenforcement?

Therapidgrowthofsocialmediacallsintoquestionthenotionthatitisessentialto
preventallunauthorizeduseofatrademark,whethersuchuseismadeingoodfaith
orwithlesshonestintentions.

Infact,thetraditionalroleoftrademarkowners”controlling”theirtrademarksthrough
authoritativeone-on-onecommunicationwiththirdpartiesmakingunauthorizeduse
ofatrademarkislesseffectiveinthesocialmediaworld.Consumersnowdiscuss,
shareandcriticizetrademarks,productsandcompanymarketingstrategiesamong
themselvesalmostinstantaneously.Heavy-handedapproachesmaycreate
extremelynegativerepercussionsshouldacompanyactinamannerdispleasingto
consumers.

Asitisalmostoftenimpossibleandunthinkabletopreventthepublicfrommaking
commentsthatmaybeunfavourabletotrademarkowners,trademarkprotectionin
socialmediarequirescompaniestoutilizenewandinnovativemethodstoprotect
theirbrandsandavoidalienatingtheircustomers.Inrecentyears,anumberof
companieswithoverlyaggressiveapproachesinthelegitimatedefenseoftheir
rightshavelearnedattheirownexpensethattheruleshavechanged.

HasbroDefends”Scrabble”

In2008,amultiplayerremakeoftheclassicScrabbleboardgamecalledScrabulous
delightednearly500,000Facebookusersonaweeklybasis.Inlightofthenew
game’spopularity,HasbrodecidedtoinstituteproceedingsagainstFacebookand
thecreatorsofScrabulousforviolationofitsexclusiverights.Followingthisaction,a
FacebookgroupwascreatedbyuserstoprotestagainstHasbro’sconduct,which

©CIPS,2011.*LawyerwithROBIC,LLP,amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyersandpatentandtrade-marksagents.
Publishedinthe2011-09-08issueofTheGazette.Publication062.056.

quicklygrewto55,000members.Someusersevencla
imedtohave”burnedtheir
Scrabbleboardgame”toprotestagainsttheactionstakenbyHasbro.

Itisclearthatnocompanywishestogeneratethistypeofreactionwithregardtoits
brandandassociatedproducts.Thequestionisthereforeraisedastowhetheror
notmorecreativesolutionscouldhavebeenforeseen,suchasapartnershipwith
thecreatorsofScrabuloustoavoidthenegativeresponsefromthousandsofusers
oftheelectronicgame.
BPanditsManagementoftheCrisisSurroundingtheOilSpillintheGulfof
Mexico
In2010,inthemidstoftheBPcrisisconcerningtheoilspillintheGulfofMexico,an
individualregisteredtheTwitteraccount@BPGlobalPRtoparodyBP’seffortsin
maintainingitsbrandimage.BPcontactedtheuserimmediatelytoensurethatitbe
clarifiedontheInternetthattheTwitteraccountwasnotinfactanofficialaccount
administeredbyBP.Althoughtherequestwasnotillegitimateinitself,itprovokeda
waveofindignationamongstusersofsocialmediawithregardstoBPandsurely
increasedthepopularityoftheunofficialTwitteraccount.Wouldamorecreative
solutionhavebeenanoptionunderthecircumstances?

CreativeSolutionstoMeettheDemandsoftheNewPlayingField

Thefollowingpracticalcasewillhelpdemonstratethatcreativesolutionsmayexist
andbebeneficialfortoday’scompanies.In2008,theCoca-ColaCompany
discoveredanunofficialFacebookpagerelatingtoCoca-Colaproductsthatwas
createdbytwofansandfollowedbycloseto2millionusers.Giventhatcertainusers
wereprobablymisledregardingwhetherthepagewasanofficialCoca-Cola
Companypage,thecompanydecidedtoapproachthecreatorsofthepageand
invitethemtojointheCoca-Colateam,asopposedtoinstitutingproceedings
againsttheindividualsorrequestingthatFacebookremovethepage.Tothisday,
thesetwoindividualsareresponsibleforthemanagementofthefanpage,which
nowhastensofmillionsofmembers.
Thesethreecasesclearlydemonstratethatintheemergingeraofsocialmedia,
companiesmustcarefullyconsiderthebestwaytoprotecttheirbrandsinsocial
media.Theimportanceofprotectingcompanybrandsremainsthesame,butthe
mannerinwhichcompanieschoosetoprotecttheirbrandsmustevolve.Theymust
movetowardinnovativealternativesastoprotecttheirbrandswhileensuringthat
consumersremainenthusiasticabouttheirproductsorservices.

ROBIC,ungrouped’avocatsetd’agentsdebrevetsetdemarquesdecommerce
vouédepuis1892àlaprotectionetàlavalorisationdelapropriétéintellectuelledans
touslesdomaines:brevets,dessinsindustrielsetmodèlesutilitaires;marquesde
commerce,marquesdecertificationetappellationsd’origine;droitsd’auteur,
propriétélittéraireetartistique,droitsvoisinsetdel’artisteinterprète;informatique,
logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;biotechnologies,pharmaceutiquesetobtentions
végétales;secretsdecommerce,know-howetconcurrence;licences,franchiseset
transfertsdetechnologies;commerceélectronique,distributionetdroitdesaffaires;
marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,litigeetarbitrage;vérificationdiligente
etaudit.ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentandtrademarkagentsdedicated
since1892totheprotectionandthevalorizationofallfieldsofintellectualproperty:
patents,industrialdesignsandutilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksand
indicationsoforigin;copyrightandentertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,
neighbouringrights;computer,softwareandintegratedcircuits;biotechnologies,
pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,know-how,competitionandanti-
trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-commerce,distributionand
businesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecutionlitigationandarbitration;
duediligence.

COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLUL’INVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDELA
PLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOUR
IDEASTOTHEWORLD

Trade-marksofROBIC,
LLP(“ROBIC”)