Facebook trademarks the word 'face' (TM) ...

13 replies
Facebook is getting serious. Hot off the start of litigation against Lamebook, the company has been awarded a trademark to the word 'face.'

The United States Patent Trademark Office is really losing it. The department is granting Facebook a trademark to the word 'face.' The social network already owns the word 'book.'

Facebook received a Notice of Allowance from the USPTO, now all it must do is pay a fee and file a Statement of Use to obtain its trademark.
Luckily the trademark has some limits.

According to TG Daily, the trademark covers use of the word for "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.

Face(TM)book(TM) will now have stronger grounds to try and shut down websites that have similar names. Less than two weeks ago, the social network sued Lamebook-a site that posts stupid Facebook comments-for improperly benefiting from its brand. In the past it has sued Teachbook.com and Placebook.com.

Possible future targets could include Apple's FaceTime and Failbook.com. Facebook has also applied to trademark the words 'like,' 'poke,' and 'wall.'
Should a company be able to register such simple and generic words? And just because Facebook was the first to come up with the idea of using the word "book," does that mean no other site can use it?

Engadget is less concerned than some sites, revealing that Facebook did not aggressively seek the word 'face,' but does that really matter?

The company has a history of litigation against anything remotely resembling a competitor. If Lamebook is taken down, how will we spend our priceless minutes of boredom each morning?

Facebook trademarks the word 'face' (TM)
#imagine
  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    This has been discussed a few times and each time, people jump in horrified that they now "own" the words face and book. This is not the case at all. When you file a trademark, you are only given the exclusive rights to use the word in commercial instances for your particular product or service. FaceBook having a trademark for the word "face" does not mean that you can't open an escort service called "Sit On My Face Entertainment".
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    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      people jump in horrified that they now "own" the words face and book.
      Equally horrifying is how Facebook is able to file a trademark application for an
      everyday word. To think that's been done for like the past hundred years, and
      there's lots of everyday words (e.g. Shell, Tide, Head and Shoulders) that are
      commercially-successful trademarks too.
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      David

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      • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
        Originally Posted by davezan View Post

        Equally horrifying is how Facebook is able to file a trademark application for an
        everyday word. To think that's been done for like the past hundred years, and
        there's lots of everyday words (e.g. Shell, Tide, Head and Shoulders) that are
        commercially-successful trademarks too.
        I agree...this is wacked! But they will continue trying to gain dominance over everything.
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    • Profile picture of the author stevemarino
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      FaceBook having a trademark for the word "face" does not mean that you can't open an escort service called "Sit On My Face Entertainment".
      Thanks, you gave me not only a laugh but also a name for my next venture.
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    • Profile picture of the author JulianKane
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      FaceBook having a trademark for the word "face" does not mean that you can't open an escort service called "Sit On My Face Entertainment".
      That made my night, lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    Hurry up, Allen! Trademark "forum".

    ~M~
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    "Ich bin en fuego!"
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  • Profile picture of the author davewebsmith
    Just interesting to read ... It was Nov 2010 though ....
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  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    Originally Posted by LD Carter View Post

    Mark Zuckerberg got the internet going nuts!
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    Founder of JVZoo. All around good guy :)

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  • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
    I agree this is absurd. It is one thing to trademark your FULL name: facebook. Quite another to try and trademark parts of it for the purpose of preventing anyone else from using those parts.

    What if Burger King trademarked Burger and sued any fast food company that had the word Burger somewhere in their name? And then separately also trademarked King and sued any restaurant that also had King in their name?
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    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      But Facebook's application for face is actually still pending, isn't it? Inspite of
      its imperfections, USPTO doesn't just grant one just like that, right?

      Then again, maybe they ought to file one for book instead of face. I've seen a
      bunch of social network sites with mostly the word book made after Facebook
      came into existence or became popular. (especially the porn ones, heh.)
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      David

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  • Profile picture of the author Andrea Wilson
    Facebook keeps on making news for their own popularity. How far can they go?

    Andrea
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