On October 26, 2016, we posted about a decision from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) finding that the use of a Twitter handle, by itself, was not sufficient use to establish trademark rights. You can find our October 26 post here: https://affinitylaw.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/a-social-media-handle-alone-may-not-be-sufficient-use-to-establish-trademark-rights/
In the recent case of In Re Florists’ Transworld Delivery, the TTAB confirmed that a social media website, by itself, is not sufficient use to support trademark rights. In In Re Florists’ Transworld Delivery, the world-famous florist FTD sought to register the trademark “Say It Your Way” for on-line retail store services and creating an on-line community for registered users to interact with other users. In support of its application, FTD submitted a copy of its Twitter page.
The Trademark Office refused registration on the ground that FTD’s Twitter page was not sufficient evidence of trademark use. On appeal, the TTAB agreed with the Trademark Office, explaining that a social media website publication like FTD’s Twitter page was neither an advertisement for FTD’s services nor FTD actually providing the services and thus was not sufficient trademark use to support registration.
The lesson to be learned is that while social media advertising can be critical to the development of a brand or trademark, social media advertising alone is not enough to create trademark rights. Instead, there must be some other way (either on the Web or brick & mortar) by which the trademark owner actually offers its goods and/or services to the public.
Insights 