Social Media Giant Sued for Trademark Infringement (Again)

Several months ago, I remarked that the social networking industry is a fertile ground for trademark battles. See “Two Degrees Of Separation From Justin Timberlake.” In my prior post, I discussed the fact that Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) had sued Teachbook.com LLC alleging various claims including federal trademark infringement, dilution, false designation of origin and others. Last month, the shoe was on the other foot when Timelines, Inc. (“Timelines”) sued Facebook for trademark infringement, false designation of origin and violations of deceptive trade practices.

Plaintiff Timelines registered the trademarks TIMELINES® and TIMELINEX.COM® in connection with its operation of the website called Timelines.com. This website allows users to record and share events and contribute photos, descriptions, videos, links and geographic locations. The lawsuit arose after Facebook announced an exciting new profile layout called Timelines stating, “tell your life story with a new kind of profile.” In the lawsuit, Timelines contends that it will go out of business if mega-giant Facebook is allowed to launch its “Timelines” layout. Accordingly, Timelines is seeking an injunction preventing Facebook from using this new layout.