With the Rio Olympics well underway, Canadian brands need to be aware of the “do’s and don’ts” of advertising and social media content involving the Olympics and Olympic athletes.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC)
In just four days, the world’s attention will turn to Rio de Janeiro and the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. At the same time, sports enthusiasts will turn to social media to express their support for the Games, for
#Yes! In the United States, a hashtag can be trademarked if it serves a source-identifying function for the trademark owner’s goods or services.
Hashtags, which started on Twitter as a way for users to follow conversations on particular topics, are words or phrases that follow the pound or hash sign (“#”). Since their inception, hashtags have become a popular way for Internet users to indicate that a post or other piece of content is related to a specific thing – a specific issue, a topic in the news, an event, or even a company or product.
According to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”), only social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn will be able to register a trademark for the service of providing an online community.
Diving head first into the deep end, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”), recently decided whether a chef’s application to register “JAWS” for an online cooking channel should sink or swim. In re Mr. Recipe, LLC.
The precedential decision is useful for anyone wishing to learn more about the role that a famous trademark, such as the JAWS® film name in this case, can play in the “likelihood of confusion” analysis at the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Engaging with customers online is quickly becoming the norm as consumers increasingly use social media to ask questions, seek customer service, and participate in dialogue with a business or their brand. The use of social media to deliver customer service
Social media channels represent an exciting medium to reach out to the public and potential collaborators. Social media can also play an important role in helping generate positive buzz for organizations seeking to develop a market for their products or
Our Top Five stories from 2015 also provide some “lessons learned” or considerations for companies who are considering using social media in 2016:
An application programming interface (API) is a library or structured set of software tools that provides an interface to a backend software platform, such as a social networking platform, without providing direct access to the underlying source code of the platform.
For example, Facebook™, Twitter™, Instagram™, LinkedIn™, Google Plus™, and Tumblr™ offer APIs so that developers can interface with their social networking platforms, resulting in widespread development of various social network based software applications.
Social media often serves as a powerful mechanism that trademark owners can employ to promote and expand their brands, but a case currently pending in the Southern District of California illustrates just how easily social media can also be used to spread consumer confusion.
In Faegin v. LivingSocial, Inc., No. 14CV00418-WQH-KSC, 2014 WL 5307186, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 15, 2014), the plaintiffs operated a residential and commercial cleaning service in San Diego called A.T. Your Service Cleaning and Janitorial.