http://www.zeitgeist.com/2010/02/13/time-for-an-iptrademark-penalty-box/ Technology. Opinion. Stuff. Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:01:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 http://www.zeitgeist.com/2010/02/13/time-for-an-iptrademark-penalty-box/comment-page-1/#comment-215 HSchiller Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:01:09 +0000 http://www.zeitgeist.com/?p=221#comment-215 While I haven't looked at the Tweet application and there may indeed be a myriad of legitimate reasons why the PTO has not approved the application, registration rights are not ownership rights in a trademark. The company can claim common law rights in the TWEET trademark without ever registering the mark -- and this is as legitimate a form of trademark ownership as ownership of the registration. That being said, if Twitter does not own the common law trademark, then they absolutely should not be sending cease and desist letters. While I haven’t looked at the Tweet application and there may indeed be a myriad of legitimate reasons why the PTO has not approved the application, registration rights are not ownership rights in a trademark. The company can claim common law rights in the TWEET trademark without ever registering the mark — and this is as legitimate a form of trademark ownership as ownership of the registration. That being said, if Twitter does not own the common law trademark, then they absolutely should not be sending cease and desist letters.

]]>