IF ONE MESSAGE WAS LOUD AND CLEAR at ALM’s April 12 ” Social Media: Risks & Rewards ” conference in San Francisco, it’s that for corporations trying to tame social media, time is measured in dog years. Social media has been changing so fast, and its ramifications are so profound, that corporate counsel are scrambling to figure out how to leash the risks and run with the opportunities. Tactics that were standard operating procedure in the past — such as sending cease and desist letters for violations of trademarks and copyrights — not only no longer work, but can backfire so severely that they can signficantly damage corporate reputations.

The panel, “Protection and Promotion: Your Corporate Identity in the Virtual World,” featured four lawyers: Todd Adler, senior corporate counsel of Oracle; Johanna Sistek, trademark counsel of Google; Alexandra Sepulveda, trademark and copyright counsel at General Mills; and moderator Jennifer Arkowitz, an associate at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. In many cases, they said, the best tactic to protect corporate brands is to do nothing — especially when an infringement is generated by an über-fan of the company. Don’t attack until you’ve done your homework and understand who is violating your intellectual property, and why. If your response is perceived as trademark bullying, the online community can react quickly and powerfully with viral attacks.

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