Ask HN: Trademarked Usernames/Handles/Accounts
I am the registered owner of a “famous trademark.” I mention “famous” because: 1) “famous trademarks” receive greater legal protection than normal trademarks where normal trademarks require “likelihood of confusion” for trademark infringement famous trademarks do not; and 2) more importantly platforms like X/Twitter, Meta (Instagram), TikTok, Twitch and YouTube all prevented the trademarked username/handle/account from being registered by users on their respective platforms to protect the trademark and brand.
I have spent the last two years working with the trademark/legal teams for these platforms to secure the trademarked usernames/handles accounts.
So far I have secured the usernames/handles/accounts from Meta (Instagram & Threads), TikTok and Twitch - plus some other less notably platforms.
However, working with X (pre-Elon & post Elon) and YouTube has been extremely frustrating. Essentially they both have automated and generic responses to my requests & legal demands. Moreover, they typically result in response like “we do not reserve usernames for trademark owners” or “the account in question is not infringing your trademark.” In short my requests are not being read and it’s been impossible to get in contact with real people at these companies. Again the accounts do not actually exist, they are just being protected from user registration, but these automated systems and responses are clearly trained of normal trademark infringement claims and not aware of these unusual edge cases where the companies themselves are preventing user registration to protect famous trademarks.
I have been working on securing the trademarked accounts across the internet to protect the trademark/brand for 2 years (3+ years including including obtaining the trademark itself). I have exhausted all available options to amicably resolve these matters and although I have strong claims for Federal Trademark Dilution and a federal lawsuit for the same would quickly get me in touch with counsel and I know they would resolve it in my favor they’d be incentivized to drag their feet for the billables commensurate with a federal trademark case. Therefore, I am requesting help of the HN community to get me in contact with flesh and blood decision makers and get me out of the process of these automated systems.
I know many employees of those companies are here on HN and I’ve seen the HN community rally to help people resolve issues with large tech companies often when they are stuck getting the runaround or automated processes. I’d greatly appreciate any help, as I’d prefer to focus on building rather than the distraction of federal litigation.
Thanks