Twitter’s Blue Tick and the Trademark Value it Holds

27th February, 2023 - 6:05 am Categories: Trademark 0 Comments

Introduction

Twitter is undergoing massive changes since Elon Musk completed the company’s purchase for $44bn this month. The changes include Musk firing a majority of his staff, including top executives and reinstating Twitter accounts of various banned celebrities and politicians including rapper Kanye West and former US President Donald Trump. The most significant change is the introduction of a subscription model that enables any user to get the iconic blue tick. By paying an $8 fee, any Twitter user can get “verified”. The blue tick provided to prominent Twitter users since 2009, carried a trademark of its own the value of which has been damaged significantly.

[Image Sources : Shutterstock]

The Blue Tick Trademark

Twitter has provided a blue tick symbol as a way of authentication for celebrities, companies, government officials, journalists, and other organizations for the past 13 years.  A blue tick next to a user’s Twitter username signifies that Twitter has verified the account. Twitter unveiled the blue tick in 2009 announcing that it will “clear up confusion beyond simply removing impersonation accounts once detected.”

Over the years, the feature gained immense popularity and has become a status symbol. From the Mars Curiosity Rover getting its own verified account to Governments of various countries making important public announcements and celebrities and influencers earning millions through sponsored posts, Twitter, and in essence, the blue tick has simplified marketing, public relations and information-sharing uniquely.

Apart from tackling impersonation, the blue tick also had a host of perks such as better engagement and higher credibility. A trademark serves the purpose of identifying the source or the origin of goods or services. By giving customers satisfying experiences related to the mark, trademark value is cultivated. People’s association with this brand/mark can be a revenue generator.

The Subscription Model and its Effect

Anyone desiring the blue tick on their profile, whether new users or already-verified accounts, must pay an $8 fee per month with Twitter’s new subscription model.

Trademark laws exist, among other reasons, to protect users’ original work from infringement. When every user is allowed to have blue ticks, essentially associating themselves with the Twitter verification, denoting credibility, there is no value left.

Although the subscription model may be a good source of revenue, the same impacts the Twitter brand. For instance, Twitter accounts of various prominent persons and companies including US President Joe Biden, former US President Barack Obama, Tesla, Warren Buffett, Apple and was hacked in 2020 whereby the attacker posted a bitcoin address urging users to send bitcoin to the same. This resulted in huge financial losses to many, and immensely affected the public’s trust in the platform.

By paying $8, imposters and scammers would now have better, more credible ways to damage user experience. Within hours of the subscription model rolling out, many “verified” accounts were created by users imitating prominent companies such as Tesla, Nestle, Pepsico and Nintendo posting obscene content.

Companies like Eli Lilly & Co, an American pharmaceutical company, and Lockheed Martin Corporation, a defence contractor, lost billions in the stock market as a result of posts made by “verified” impersonating accounts.

If third parties are allowed to free-ride on the mark created on reputation and credibility, their inferior products and experiences will ruin associations and value of the mark. This in turn makes the platform unsuitable for advertising as imposter accounts may post misleading content tarnishing brands’ value.

Conclusion

Although enabling access to the blue tick feature with a fee might seem like the platform promotes free speech, as reasoned by Musk, credibility and brand value are immensely affected. The subscription model was paused after a large number of parody and imposter accounts were created but Musk, in his tweet dated November 16 announced that the feature will return on November 29.

The re-introduction of the subscription model will further cause damage to the blue tick’s value unless it includes some form of credible verification, such as identity verification. Although, the same may give rise to privacy concerns.

Author: Dinesh G,  A student at KLE Society’s Law College, Bangalore, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.

References

1. Lucy Hooker and Chris Vallance. (2022, October 28). Elon Musk takes control of Twitter in $44bn deal. BBC. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63402338
2. Guardian staff and agencies. (2022, November 11). Twitter blue check unavailable after impostor accounts erupt on platform. The Guardian. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/11/twitter-blue-check-verification-impostor-accounts
3. Andreas Sætre Hanssen. (2022, November 17). Trademark ignorance is burning Elon Musk’s Twitter to the ground. The Trademark Lawyer. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://trademarklawyermagazine.com/trademark-ignorance-is-burning-elon-musks-twitter-to-the-ground/
4. Tim Lince. (2022, November 2). Charging Twitter users for a ‘blue tick’ will be a brand protection disaster, expert claims. WTR. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/article/charging-twitter-users-blue-tick-will-be-brand-protection-disaster-expert-claims
5. Dan Mangan. (2021, July 21). Man busted in 2020 Twitter hack, bitcoin scam of Biden, Obama, Musk, Buffett accounts. CNBC. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/21/man-busted-for-twitter-hack-of-biden-obama-musk-in-bitcoin-scam.html
6. Shanthi Rexaline. (2022, November 13). Elon Musk’s Blue Check Verification Hurts: 8 Companies That Took A Hit From Twitter Account Impersonators. Benzinga. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.benzinga.com/news/22/11/29692412/elon-musks-blue-check-verification-hurts-8-companies-that-took-a-hit-from-twitter-account-impersonat

ANI. (2022, November 16). Twitter Blue tick to make reappearance on November 29. Business Insider India. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/twitter-blue-tick-to-make-reappearance-on-november-29/articleshow/95555641.cms