Twitter: Keeping a cool head

Meet ‘Dronie’, an unmanned aerial vehicle that takes pictures and videos which are then posted on Twitter and Vine. In its first official outing, at the Cannes Lions 2014 festival, a grounded Dronie films a waving Sir Patrick Stewart and Joel Lunenfeld, vice president, global brand strategy at Twitter, before soaring off into the distance.

One of Twitter’s less well-known creations, Dronie is also trademarked in the EU, joining other more recognisable names or logos that the high-flying company owns. Leading the way is the blue bird logo, while Vine and Periscope, both social media platforms, and mobile advertisement exchange Mopub, can all be found in Twitter’s nest of brands.

The man in charge of protecting these and other intellectual property assets is Stephen Coates, who is based in San Francisco. He calls himself the “hey man”.

“My time is split between a number of issues,” he tells WIPR. “My team manages the trademark, domain and marketing practices; policy also occupies a good chunk of my time. I’m an active member of the International Trademark Association and the Business Constituency at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

“I also work on the occasional odd project like drones.”

The heart of Twitter and all of its brands is the bird, Coates says, explaining that the company doesn’t alter it.

“It’s a constant and consistent icon across all of our products and services.”

Unlike many companies, Twitter encourages use of its brand in a way that “references and points consumers to a specific user handle or hashtag on the platform”, Coates adds.

Despite this approach (or maybe because of it), there are instances of trademark infringement that require resolving.

“Often, the infringement is inadvertent. For example, filing a trademark for a logo that includes our bird logo or our ‘Tweet’ mark as a call to action on our platform (eg, ‘Follow us on Twitter’ or ‘Tweet us at #XXX’),” Coates reveals. “Other times, our marks are incorporated into product names that are built on our platform.”

Infringement is split roughly down the middle between problematic filings and uses, says Coates, with domain names, websites, apps, phishing and spamming falling into the use category.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a trendy social media company based in laid-back California, Twitter keeps a cool head when notifying individuals or companies of their infringement.

“If we see an infringement, we always reach out on a friendly and reasonable basis to resolve the dispute. A majority of our infringers are our users, whether they are developers, marketers or an everyday user of our platform.

“Of course, we also take any and all action to protect our rights when necessary.”

Coates has adopted what he calls the “hey man” approach, which involves informal, first-name correspondence with no legalese built in.

“I wouldn’t send takedown notices right away. I would send an email to the developer explaining who I am, what I do, be very friendly,” he says.

Coates believes this strategy works better in certain industries, including technology and consumer products, but admits that it won’t necessarily succeed for everyone.

“If you’re a luxury brand facing pretty significant infringements, a friendly email to your local counterfeiter is probably not going to be super helpful.”

The “hey man” approach seems to be working for Coates, who reveals he has seen a 500% reduction in Twitter- and Vine-infringing apps since he began in the role. He puts this down to “building a dialogue with the developer community”.