Facebook to Trademark the Word “Face”
Facebook has been one of the most aggressive entities out there with regard to their trademarks. Several years ago, Facebook filed to trademark the word “Face.”
- Was this a joke? No, this happened and it was interesting when considering what can receive trademark protection.
- Facebook succeeded in registering the word “Face” giving their protection within their sphere.
- There are a signification number of domain names that include the word “face.” Are their all infringing? The answer is, it depends.
- Facebook has also registered the blue color in its logo.
- Facebook’s registration was restricted to “telecommunication services.”
- Facebook’s registration specifically excluded protection for use with cars.
- There is a colorful history to how this came to be.
- Coincidentally, Facebook has also trademarked the words “like” and wall.”
Facebook as well as other large companies take their trademark (s) very seriously.
Is this for real? Yes
I must admit, when I first saw this, I laughed a bit to myself, for several reasons. 1) this is a common word that if a trademark were to be granted, it would have to be under a variety of restrictions; 2) Facebook is not the first company in the telecommunications industry to use the word “Face” in its name.
That being said, their application was approved by the USPTO. Consequently, Facebook succeeded in having the word trademarked for protection within their sphere.
How does Facebook benefit from this?
The trademark has likely helped Facebook throw the book (no pun intended) at the competition — and Facebook faces (also no pun intended) a wealth of it. GoDaddy.com, the world’s largest domain name registrar, has 53,000 domain names containing the word “face” in its databases. The company also estimated that the Internet has 89,000 domain names containing the word “face” just in the .com world.
A trademark can cover a variety of things, from a name to a slogan, a jingle, logo, or even color (for example, the facebook blue). In Facebook’s case, the trademark would cover “telecommunication services, namely providing online chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among computer users in the field of general interest and concerning social and entertainment subject matter, none primarily featuring or relating to motoring or to cars.”
Does something jump out at you there? Cars? What ever could that mean? I imagine that Facebook has been rejected by somebody that already trademarked the word “face” related to cars.
A colorful history of Facebook
The unusual trademark may be explained by its colorful history. The social network picked up a trademark application originally filed in 2005 by Faceparty.com, a UK company run by another British company called CIS. The original UK application covered everything from festival planning to dating services to text message systems.
Around October of 2008, CIS filed to split the various categories into separate applications — one of which was for online chat rooms. That application was taken over by Facebook on November 7, 2010.
If someone else were using “face” by itself, it’s likely they would be able to block that type of usage. But in the real world, that will have to be taken on a case by case basis.
Other companies who use “face”
Other prominent uses of the word “face” are: Apple’s video conferencing service Facetime which may feel the brunt of Facebook’s trademark, though it may not be covered by the trademark. (Apple has filed its own trademark application for Facetime, though its efforts were initially rejected, but ultimately approved in 2014.). Additionally, Facebook has filed a separate lawsuit against a pornography company with the similar name FacePorn.
However, we should not be surprised to see this application from Facebook, a company who has already trademarked the words “Like” and “Wall.”
You may not be Facebook but you likely have a trademark that needs protection. Whether you want to file a trademark registration or you are involved in a dispute over a trademark, if you want to protect your businesses most valuable asset, you will want to consult with a trademark attorney who can protect your rights.
Contact an attorney with Veritas Business Law, LLC for a free consultation.
