Trademark Protection in Social Media: A Battle Won by Technology

Abstract

Conflict and differences of platform and nature in real world and cyberspace is the basis of further issues of trademark in cyberspace (Goldman, 2005). While Internet fast development, creates more challenges to trademark protection among others using metatag or domain name tasting by cybersquatters, it also establishes technology related protection over the mark for example discouraging add grace period (AGP) (Patrick and Lonardo, 2009). Most of scholars established the fact that the emergence of social media website namely among others Youtube, Twitter and Facebook, posed more challenges as well as opportunity of with its different platform setup (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010). Infringement by username and pages, Hashtag and channel, prove that trademark infringement is too hot to handle (Strand, 2011). Social media somehow manage it ‘technology style’ in protecting trademark through username and pages verification or numbers of followers’ calculation, among other’s. The discussion by scholars went on but none yet to compare and proved that technological innovation is powerful tools for trademark protection or even it is a better one.This paper intended to find whether it is true that trademark protection in cyberspace via legal means for example, Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, (ACPA) Lanham Act and Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), is losing its grip as Internet itself with further innovations has created more rooms for infringement, as well as new methods of protection for trademarks. This study will provide avenue for trademark law to be revisited. Legal protections in different setting need thorough and empirical methods to suits the nature and platform. Thus may concede that handling issues in cyberspace is best left to ‘the owner of the field’. Technology expert will be enlightened as to capitalize the tools in order to maintain harmony between law and technology. It is vital to examine how social media directly and indirectly provide more avenues for trademark infringements and whether it is covered under trademark law scope available. More importantly how technology played vital role in trademark protection as it posed more challenges to the same. Comparison and contrast to domain name is the best option available to measure how law evolvement and technology involvement through innovations operates in order to protect trademark in cyberspace.