June 2009
Facebook, the social networking site, announced on 9 June 2009 that users will be able to create personalised URLs for their Facebook accounts. According to Facebook, these personalised usernames, which are in the form www.facebook.com/username, make it easier for friends, family, and co workers to find and connect with Facebook users and locate their Facebook profile as they can simply enter the username as part of the URL in the location bar of their browser.
The usernames are being allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis, with most users having being able to sign up for a usernames from 13 June 2009. Users that have created a Facebook profile after 3 pm (EDT) on 9 June
2009 or a Facebook Fan Page, which is commonly used by businesses to post business information, events, specials or promotions, after 31 May 2009 will have to wait until after 12:01 a.m. (EDT) on Sunday 28 June 2009 to sign up for a username due to steps Facebook claim to have taken to prevent abuse or "squatting" on names. All Facebook users will also have received a notice on their Facebook page with instructions for obtaining the usernames and suggested permutations of their name. Users can select the username that Facebook suggests or create their own.
The usernames are available in basic text forms, and only one username can be set for each profile and for each of the Pages that users administer. Once a name is selected, it will not be possible to change or transfer it, and if an account is removed from the site, the username associated with the account will not be made available.
Clearly, there is a potential for abuse with Facebook users adopting usernames incorporating trade marks belonging to other parties.
To counter this, Facebook have set up a facility allowing trade mark owners to reserve or protect their trade marks by completing an online “Preventing the
Registration of a Username” form. Owners must provide contact details and details of the marks they wish to protect. Facebook’s strict no transfer policy should also assist in preventing abuse.
We strongly recommend that rights owners act as soon as possible to prevent their trade marks from being misappropriated by third parties to be used as part of personalised URLs. The “Preventing the Registration of a Username” form is available at http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=username_rights.
Facebook also provide a procedure for right holders to challenge the content of a Facebook page. Specifically, if a party believes that the content on a Facebook page infringes their intellectual property rights, they can also complete an automated online “Notice of Intellectual Property Infringement” form (available at http://www.facebook.com/copyright.php?noncopyright_notice=1).
The party completing the form must provide contact details, details of the rights alleged to be infringed and explain how the content infringes their rights. We are unsure, however, as to effectiveness of this procedure.
For more information, please see Facebook’s announcement at
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=90316352130, or get in touch with your usual contact at Forresters or email us at london@forresters.co.uk or birmingham@forresters.co.uk.