The Other Side of the Tweet

Sometimes social media can be too social – here’s how to protect your brand from unwelcome guests.

Your brand is an important business asset that should be treasured, nurtured and safeguarded against misuse by third parties. How can brand owners protect themselves in the age of social media?

Sounds simple enough, however, it can be daunting for any business when faced with the reality of overseeing how its brand is used by others. In the past, a business owner could subscribe to a media-watching service and receive copies of articles, advertisements and other printed material that made mention of its brand. If any use of its brand was without consent, the business owner could write and ask for the misuse to stop. If that didn’t happen, then legal action could be considered.

Social media: the new wave of communication
However, brand use has hotted up. Social media has become the ‘new black’ of communication. Suddenly brand owners have to keep an eye on Facebook, Bebo, YouTube and LinkedIn (to name just a view of the popular sites) to make sure its brand is not being misused.
Then, just when you thought you had social media covered, Twitter arrived. This opened yet another avenue for brand misuse.
Twitter not only connects friends, it connects businesses. It works in real time. With Tweets limited to 140 characters, its message is direct and current. However, tweets are not necessarily sweet. Some businesses have found themselves at war with another business due to use (or misuse) of a brand.
Although Twitter hasn’t been around that long, it is gaining in popularity. Anecdotally, users of Twitter have been estimated at 175 million globally. Some 95 million Tweets are written each day. And it is growing – fast. This will put increasing pressure on selecting a username or ‘Twitter Handle’.

What’s a Twitter Handle?
The Twitter Handle is the name you choose to represent you on Twitter. It also becomes the URL (or web address) of your Twitter profile, for example, twitter.com/YOURNAME. Twitter Handles are provided on a first come, first served basis and may not be reserved. Many names are already taken, so you may have to be creative in picking your Handle.
As with other social media sites now, it is common for one business to select the brand of another business as its Twitter Handle. Why? Often because they can – it’s available, so they think, ‘why not’? But sometimes there is a more sinister motivation – they want to try to gain some mileage off your hard-earned reputation.

Twitter has a complaints process
You need to add Twitter to that growing list of checkpoints to help safeguard against misuse of your brand.
Twitter does aim to guard against brand misuse by providing a process for complaints. See http://support.twitter.com
The complaint process is straightforward if you own a registration for your brand. Less so, if you are relying on common law rights earned through use.
You need to prove that you own the brand before Twitter will study your complaint of brand violation. Twitter policy is to shut down users who say they are someone that they are not.
But some Twitter Handles are free from challenge through the Twitter complaint process. ‘Fan’/’comment’/’tribute’ and ’sucks’ sites are allowed in the Twitter rules. Even if those Handles use your brand. Twitter’s view is that they are not using it as a brand. They are not misleading anyone about who they are. It is not illegal to make adverse comment about another brand. If your logo is displayed, then there may be a case for copyright infringement, other than that there is very little you can do to stop use of your brand on those sites using the Twitter complaint process.

For any business, it’s important to keep a close eye on your brand. It is becoming even more so with the arrival of new communication channels.

Keep an eye on Twitter and other social media sites
Think tactically about how best to protect your brand. Early registration of a Twitter Handle could save much angst later. Ask yourself what Handles you would use and what you would be concerned about others using. It may pay to register several variations. But remember you can only register letters, numerals, dashes and underscores. You also need a different email address for each Handle. Then, of course, you need to check what is being Tweeted!
Just as important – if not more so – every business should consider registering your brand as a trade mark. A trade mark registration gives you a basis for objecting to others misusing your trade mark in all media, not just on Twitter.

Corinne Blumsky
www.ajpark.com