Social networking usernames

Cybersquatting does not only affect domain names. This form of online trademark infringement also impacts on social networking usernames, used to create URLs such as www.facebook.com/chanel or www.twitter.com/microsoft.

Some cybersquatters are specialists in this area, particularly as it is usually free to create a social networking account. For example, although Microsoft owns its Twitter username, this is not the case for Apple. www.twitter.com/apple is a moribund account with no tweets, yet has several thousand followers!

As is the case for domain names, there is a secondary market for such usernames. For example, in 2010 the Israeli government paid several thousands of dollars to repurchase the twitter.com/israel account.

In parallel with its services for professionals with trademarked domain names, SafeBrands currently offers an audit, monitoring and registration solution that enables you to control your identity on social networks through profile management.

Thanks to our automated systems and manual analysis, we are able to analyze nearly 500 social networks worldwide, and to list any usernames (in addition to your own) which are free or taken by third parties. The service is based on four main areas:

To receive our brochure with details of these services, contact your SafeBrands Account Manager, or if you are not yet a client, our social networking specialists.

– E-mail: (rs@SafeBrands.fr)

– Phone: +33 (0)4 88 66 22 18.