Where there is an opportunity to market a brand name, there will be those who seek to profit off of other people’s successful brand names. And so it is with Twitter. Much like its sister infringement practice cybersquatting (the practice of using someone else’s brand name, or a twist on that brand name, as a website address to generate traffic), “Twitter Squatting” as it has come to be called is the practice of using someone else’s popular brand name as a Twitter user name to generate followers.
Twitter’s Terms of Service grant Twitter the right to reclaim user names on behalf of trademark owners. Twitter also provides a mechanism by which trademark owners can report trademark violations. Anyone who has a Twitter account can report acts of Twitter Squatting through this mechanism, though it is unclear what exactly Twitter will do with these reports or how it will determine whether there is an actual trademark violation. It is one thing for Twitter to state that it has the right to reclaim usernames; policing trademark violations may not be something that Twitter really wants to get involved in. Trademark owners may need to resort to traditional avenues (from sending cease and desist letters to filing lawsuits) to stop Twitter Squatting.
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