Ugh, a company has contacted me and wants me to release my Twitter name to them.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

The first thing is find a possible new name but... What!?! You haven't twittered about the letter yet?

That was actually my first thought, ask your followers what they think you should do. Maybe make it sound like an opportunity to step up your game after you think of a different name.

[Doc]

So far as I know, there's no legal precedent for taking a Twitter name, specifically. If it were a domain name, they could probably snatch it from you with a quick ICANN proceeding.

If your handle includes their trademark and in and of itself presents a likelihood of confusion between your online persona and that of the corporation then you might (ultimately) be forced to surrender it in court.

Re-reading the message, it does seem that they are asking you to give them the name... Depending on what that name is, they might have a good case against you.

An offer to sell it to them or accepting a gift from them might be taken as an inference of trademark hijacking or bad faith... I'd be VERY careful about how I phrased my response. Do not make statements about the commercial value of the name. Do not invite an offer to buy the name. Asking him to clarify in fewer words exactly what he meant to say in the preceding email would probably be okay.

If you want to keep the name, I suggest that you contact an attorney. If you can't afford an attorney, call your state bar association and request information about pro bono intellectual property, copyright (they'll probably call it "copyright," but it's broadly "intellectual property") or arts groups. In my area, there's a "Lawyer's Association for the Arts" that meets every month and provides opportunities for people to get Q&A time and help from intellectual property attorneys.

[$tevie]

They are offering to negotiate. They have more money and more motivation than you do, and may be not be hesitant to take this to court if need be. They also may not be hesitant to offer more than a box of swag. Folks are right, tread carefully. Decide right now how important this name is to you and how much time and money you care to invest in keeping it.

Here in Baltimore we had a young woman whose name was Sony and the corporation sued her to prevent her from calling her little local restaurant "Sony's".

Sony won the lawsuit.

[Marc Anthony]

Regardless of whether or not you disclaim yourself as being a representative of X company, they may have a valid point in asking an outsider to not directly use their company name, as it may skew search engine results and hinder their own marketing efforts. They seem to be making a reasonable request, so I'd either comply or maybe ask them if they are willing to hire you to do the same thing you've been doing.

[Harbourmaster]

Hard to say what course to take without knowing the name of the company and the actual Twitter name involved...

[bazookaman]

Marc Anthony wrote:
Regardless of whether or not you disclaim yourself as being a representative of X company, they may have a valid point in asking an outsider to not directly use their company name, as it may skew search engine results and hinder their own marketing efforts.

Wouldn't that be kind of like Chrysler going after a site I frequent b/c its called DodgeTalk.com? Or Apple going after a site called MacResource?

[Acer]

Phooey. They should be grateful for the free, grassroots support. Some half-hearted astroturfed "fan" site run by some intern in their marketing department would not be able to begin to approach the value to the company that a good fan site can bring. Time to wake up and smell the 21st century!

[$tevie]

bazookaman wrote:
[quote=Marc Anthony]
Regardless of whether or not you disclaim yourself as being a representative of X company, they may have a valid point in asking an outsider to not directly use their company name, as it may skew search engine results and hinder their own marketing efforts.

Wouldn't that be kind of like Chrysler going after a site I frequent b/c its called DodgeTalk.com? Or Apple going after a site called MacResource?
It would be kind of like that. But the fact that those companies choose to let it slide, or don't know about it, or perhaps like it, doesn't mean legal beans to what another company might wish to do. "But that guy does it!" can't offer protection from a lawsuit. Regardless of what century it is, you can lose your trademark unless you protect it. This has led to some incredibly over zealous and abusive actions, but it keeps the lawyers busy and can be hard to defend against if its regular joe vs a big corporation.

[bazookaman]

hey 3P, your twitter name isn't monstercablefan is it? :nono:

[RAMd®d]

I wonder how close a Twitter handle/user name is to a domain name or website name. I'm thinkin' not very.

Doc's got some great advice. Let them make offers, rather than you possibly appearing to hold them up for the name.

I don't know the Twitter name and how close it *might* infringe on their trademark, if it at all. I'm thinking that their concern is wanting it for their own marketing.

The rep seems pretty civil at this point, regardless of the motivation.

If you don't feel that the Average Man on the Street would be confused as to who you are and aren't, I'd certainly politely inform them as such.

Also, I realize that the company doesn't owe you a thing and that you don't expect anything of them, but the idea of offering a shirt seems awful cheap to me.

You could just "retire" the name and retain possession, using a new one. You could proclaim somewhere "The Twitterer formerly known as ____________".