The mark of the wise

During the past decade and a half, the internet has grown from a small array of a few thousand websites to a vast network of hundreds of millions of distinct sites containing billions of web pages. Although the internet has presented a new frontier for both trademark use and infringement, the growth of social media sites during the past few years has posed particular challenges for brand owners. These sites, which include blogs, virtual worlds, marketplaces, image networks and relative newcomers such as Facebook and Twitter, allow users to interact with each other, effectively building a community.

December 08, 2009 at 02:11 AM

8 minute read

Even if brand owners do not interact with consumers via social media platforms, they should develop trademark usage policies for third-party users and monitor for copyright infringement, says Brian Winterfeldt

During the past decade and a half, the internet has grown from a small array of a few thousand websites to a vast network of hundreds of millions of distinct sites containing billions of web pages.

Although the internet has presented a new frontier for both trademark use and infringement, the growth of social media sites during the past few years has posed particular challenges for brand owners. These sites, which include blogs, virtual worlds, marketplaces, image networks and relative newcomers such as Facebook and Twitter, allow users to interact with each other, effectively building a community.

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