Are You #BreakingTheLaw via using Hashtags?

Kerry O’Shea Gorgone

October 28, 2015

hashtagsThe “pound sign” (#) has considered relatively a resurgence in reputation the past few years, as individuals repurpose it as the omnipresent hashtag on social networks like Twitter and facebook.

marketers and brands jumped on the hashtag teach early (with some hilarious missteps), the usage of hashtags to run giveaways, facilitate Twitter chats, or simply get cheeky with brand audiences.

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/t/0/_/markgrow/~https://twitter.com/Charmin/standing/648504942387437568

Trademark safety covers handiest the precise class of goods or services and products you deal in. as an example, Delta airways owns the trademark “Delta” for air trip, but Delta faucets owns the trademark for toilet fixtures. No prison concerns: they’re in numerous industries.

putting a hashtag image in front of anyone else’s trademark is fine in the event you’re a private citizen having a conversation online, but it usually is risky for entrepreneurs to hashtag a competitor’s trademark.

In a recent trademark case, Eksouzian v. Albanese, the courtroom had to come to a decision whether or not one of the crucial parties had violated a agreement settlement through the use of the hashtag #cloudpen (now not a model name: just a time period usually used to describe compact vaporizers).

In Eksouzian, the court docket discovered that the usage of a descriptive hashtag (like #cloudpen) didn’t violate trademark legislation or the settlement agreement if that’s the case, for the reason that hashtagged time period was once now not itself a trademark.

Therein lies the most important difference for entrepreneurs: the use of the hashtag #cloudpen is ok, but steer clear of using #vapemail in case you’re tweeting on behalf of a competing digital cigarette model, as a result of “#vapemail” is a trademark.

tricks to #HashtagReponsibly:

  1. steer clear of the usage of logos as hashtags in advertising and marketing posts (until you personal the emblems). for instance, don’t use #CocaCola in case you’re tweeting from Pepsi’s reliable account and selling Pepsi.
  2. Don’t hijack any other brand’s hashtag all over an experience or Twitter chat. it would no longer be illegal, depending on the situations, nevertheless it’s dangerous manners regardless.
  3. Don’t use irrelevant hashtags. if you tag your advertising post #DIY when the content material you’re posting has nothing to do with crafting or “do it yourself” initiatives, people will likely be pissed off. most often not the response you’re going for when you use social media for marketing.
  4. Don’t hashtag your Twitter fights. Ideally, don’t interact trolls in any respect, but when you’re feeling the wish to have a heated dialogue about your brand on-line, keep away from the use of hashtags with regards to your model. It’s like posting street signs to your street brawl!

after all, to your personal lifestyles, which you can hashtag all you adore. i exploit lengthy hashtags to editorialize or have a bit of fun. #YouKnowThatsRight.

simply train warning when hashtagging a tweet or facebook post made on behalf of a consumer or organisation.

#BetterSafeThanSorry. #AmIRight?

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