Tecknova

Facebook updates user agreement; to copyright 'Book'

Facebook, according to their new user agreement will now come down strictly on those who are found using terms, like Book, Facebook, the Facebook, and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, and Wall.  In an official post in their Site Governance section, Facebook clearly states, “You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, Book and Wall), or any confusingly similar marks, except as expressly permitted by our Brand Usage Guidelines or with our prior written permission.” According to the report, Facebook has included this as a new clause in their new user agreement, simply implying that now when a user logs into Facebook, he or she is essentially agreeing to each of those. These existing terms come in as an addition to Facebook’s existing line-up of copyrighted terms, which include - ‘F,’ ‘F8,’ ‘Wall,’ ‘Friendfeed,’ and ‘Facebook Ads.’

Widening the scope!

Including such a wide gamut of terms and several others, earlier in their kitty, Facebook surely have all bases covered. Daily Mail reports that while this addition to the user agreement does not have any legal bindings, these will especially come handy for the company to safeguard their intellectual property. The report further cites the instanc, back in August 2010 when Facebook sued Teachbook, for having used the word, for reportedly it, “diluted ‘the distinctiveness of the Facebook Marks, imparting their ability to function as unique and distinctive identifiers of Facebook’s goods and services”. Also, there have been reports about a company, called myEworkBook, who reportedly filed for a patent application, but was rejected by a trademark review board.