No Place for your Face

[Sparlin]

Fastlane or Fiendish? Facing the facts about saving "face".


FoxNews.com - Facebook Plans to Trademark the Word 'Face'

http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/27/technology/facebook_trademark_face/index.htm

 

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[Russ H]

I had no idea you could patent/trademark basic words like "face", "like", and "wall".

I wonder how deep this goes? Does it mean you could never have a button on your website that says "I like this!"?

-Russ H.

 

[Sparlin]

I'm not sure Russ. The CNN article stated that Facebook probably will not win, but if they do it would be an enormous power grab. I wouldn't think it was possible either, but I believe UPS patented the color "brown" a few years ago.

 

[Russ H]

I'm not sure Russ. The CNN article stated that Facebook probably will not win, but if they do it would be an enormous power grab. I wouldn't think it was possible either, but I believe UPS patented the color "brown" a few years ago.

I think this was just a specific shade of brown, specifically used for logos, company vehicles, etc.. To my knowledge, lots of companies have done this with their specific logo colors.

-Russ H.

 

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[Sparlin]

Yes... it's only the one shade. The only concern with ownership of word such as "face" is that it could potentially hinder people from building sites completely unrelated to social networking. My belief is that any company claiming copyright/ trademark infringement should have to show just cause that the competitor actively sought to imply affiliation. They should also prove that it's cost them financially or in terms of opportunity. The legal system may already use these guidelines. To just throw out a word as a blanket defense shouldn't be allowed unless it is a non generic company name.


This however, is an example of trademark infringement. Great movie... ignore the content of the clip, only one I found with the uniforms for Mc Dowell's (Mc Donalds knock off).


(warning: language)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m61eBU61Y1c

a better example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGRiTpCji0I