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ARTICLE · 26 JUNE 2009

Potential Brand Issues Resulting From Facebook Profile Names

Foley & Lardner LLP
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It has just been announced that the popular social networking site, Facebook, is making a change to its policies that could result in unauthorized uses of your valuable, registered trademarks.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Foley & Lardner
Foley & Lardner
Jeffrey Greene
Jeffrey Greene
Richard McKenna
Richard McKenna
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It has just been announced that the popular social networking site, Facebook, is making a change to its policies that could result in unauthorized uses of your valuable, registered trademarks. Previously, Facebook has assigned non-descript names to user profiles comprising a series of numbers that have no real meaning to users of the site (e.g., "facebook.com/profile.php?id=123456789"). However, as of June 13, 2009, Facebook will allow users of the site to register a username of choice that will direct users to a particular profile (e.g., "facebook.com/foleyandlardner"). The intention of the program is to provide greater reliability in searching for a particular profile on a search engine and to allow users to create vanity names for their profiles such as "MarathonRunner" or "ScratchGolfer." As with many intersections of technology, the Internet, and the law, the process has the potential to create issues for brand owners; however, because Facebook profiles are not

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