Twitter's application to the
USPTO last month for a trade mark in the word 'tweet' (denoting the messaging beloved by media pundits, self-consciously 'digital' academics and those for whom even a 250 character
blog entry is just too too long) has been provisionally denied on the basis of likely confusion, following application by other companies for trademarks with very similar words.
The Patent & Trademark Office - counterpart of
IP Australia - cited applications by Tweetphoto, TweetMarks and Cotweet. Twitter's co-founder Biz Stone had earlier
indicated that Twitter-related applications featuring the stem 'tweet' (such as Tweetboard, Tweetdeck and Tweetie) were not a trade mark problem.
The ecosystem growing around Twitter is something we very much believe in nourishing and supporting. There are lots of really awesome services and applications out there like TweetDeck, TweetMeme, Tweetie, BackTweets, Tweetboard, and others that we absolutely love as do many users. However, as the ecosystem grows there is also the possibility that confusing and potentially damaging projects could emerge.
We have applied to trademark tweet because it is clearly attached to Twitter from a brand perspective but we have no intention of 'going after' the wonderful applications and services that use the word in their name when associated with Twitter. In fact, we encourage the use of the word Tweet. However, if we come across a confusing or damaging project, the recourse to act responsibly to protect both users and our brand is important
A quick search of the USPTO's TESS database indicates that there are 59 'live' or 'dead' word marks featuring 'tweet', including 'Home Tweet Home', 'Tweet Street', 'Tweety's Tweat Shop', 'Tweet Suite', 'Tweatweats', 'Tweatworking' and of course 'Tweatlaw'. It's all so twerribly twee that I'm reminded of Dorothy Parker's
New Yorker review, in the guise of the Constant Reader, in which she savaged A A Milne's
The House at Pooh Corner, ending
And it is that word 'hummy,' my darlings, that marks the first place in The House at Pooh Corner at which Tonstant Weader fwowed up.
Exactly.
The perplexed might peruse
Shanahan′s Australian Law of Trade Marks (Lawbook Co, 4th Ed, 2009) by Dan Shanahan, Mark Davison, Annette Freeman and Tracey Berger.
