Every trademark owner knows (or should know) that in order to maintain your trademark registration, you have to be vigilant about protecting the trademark from misuse. Famous marks are particularly vulnerable to becoming generic (and losing their registered status) through unchecked misuse. But while under-policing can lead to loss of your registration, over-policing can lead to a bad public imagine, not to mention the high cost of paying your lawyers to send cease and desist letters and file lawsuits.
Take Monster.com. Fairly or unfairly, Monster.com, the job search website, has earned a reputation as being overly aggressive to the point of ridiculousness in policing its marks and going after anyone for using the word “monster” in their name. While they may be effectively protecting their mark, they have not done any favors for their public image. On the other end of the spectrum are companies like Twiiter.com, that have taken a rather laissez-faire approach to their trademarks. While this may sit well with the public and earn them an image as a friendly company, they may be putting their valuable trademarks in jeopardy. It would not be altogether surprising if five years from now “Twitter” and “Tweets” are generic terms associated with sharing personal status updates over any social networking site.
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