Slashdot Mirror
Facebook To Own the Word "Face"
Dthief writes "The US Patent And Trademark Office has sent Facebook a Notice of Allowance, which means it will grant the 'Face' trademark to the popular social networking site. Facebook now has three months to pay an issue fee before they officially own the word. From the article: 'For all intents and purposes today's status update bodes well for Facebook's hold over 'face' usages in '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.''"
You are correct.
Facebook vs Teachbook.
However they had SOME miniscule ground in that Teachbook is meant to be a social network for teachers - and Facebook being a social network - felt that the use of 'x'book for social media sites kind of makes it sound like its trying to copy or associate with them, so they're defending the Facebook trademark that way.
Now - they basically want to do the same thing with Face, I assume. No social networking site Can be Face'x'. I don't think the lawyers would be stupid to try and defend its trademark outside the realm of which the company operates.
Non-issue for Apple. They own the FaceTime trademark on an application dating to 1998 (purchased from another company). Facebook's application was initiated in 2005.
I suppose it's the same people, but the word is trademark. And proper nouns are what trademarks are for -- the word you're looking for is "common noun."
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
There was no precedent, Microsoft paid Lindows to shut up and change their name out of court.
facebook came first... if it hadn't, would apple still have called it facetime? if the exact same service and user base as facebook.com existed for camerabook.com, would apple have called it cameratime?
No. "Face time" is an idiom that means "speak directly to someone who is in front of you." Eg, "I need to go spend some face time with my accountant." It has nothing to do with Facebook at all.
There aint no pancake so thin it doesn't have two sides.
"face" in a telecomunications context. Such as "interface"? Someone needs to beat them in the face with a clue stick.
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No. First, you can't trademark everything - there are limits built into the system. Second, trademarks can be ruled invalid or lost through non-use. Third, trademarks are targeted at industry and not the public.
That's the big one and I'm constantly confused as to why people demand protections from the commercial sector but then rant and rampage when it's given to them. If you want to open your own website for family use and you call it FacetoFacewithUnity100 - that's allowed! If you want to call it FaceofMe and include thousands of pictures of your face...thats allowed! If you load it up with ads, call it FaceBoook and post links all over the 'net trying to get people to accidentally click - thats a commercial action, it's fraudulant, and it's not allowed. Trademark is designed to keep the public safe. Sure it benefits industry too, but ultimatly it's about ensuring we know where our products come from and can make informed decisions when selecting them. If some company owns Face in telecommunications, and another in cooking, and another in porn...it doesn't limit my use of the term in any way unless I go into business...and that's a whole different ball-game.
"Takes a lot for me to laugh while reading on the internet..."
Not familiar with the BOFH stories,then?
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
I don't know how International trademark claims work but I doubt that this is going to be applicable in the UK on the basis that use of the word "face" in the title of a social networking site predates Facebook.
UK social networking site Faceparty: launched 2000
US* social networking site Facebook: launched 2004
*(later international)
Secondly, I understand how "Facebook" can be a trademark, I understand how the Facebook logo/logo-type can be a trademark, but how can "Face" be trademarked. It just seems stupid. What next? Is G.E. going to trademark the letter G? Slashdot trademark the word "Slash"? Microsoft trademark the word "Micro"?
"created" words like facebook
Actually, facebook is a real word. Not created at all. It's like a college yearbook, but created and distributed with contact info, allowing people to contact each other in college and potentially after they've graduated. "Facebook (R)" is just a facebook on the web (which morphed into a social network, and added people who aren't in college).
The browser I'm using is AE (Arse Explorer)
You must be working for the TSA.
Ni.