PAID CONTENT - Aug 5 - Facebook really doesn’t like websites that have names sounding similar its own. Facebook has gone after Teachbook, and FacebookOfSex.com run by FriendFinder Networks. Facebook moved to stop a U.K. dating site called Shagbook from registering a trademark under that name. Now Shagbook is pushing back with a novel claim, saying that the term “facebook” itself is generic and not worthy of a trademark. Mark Brooks said that the founder of Shagbook is an American who has spent many years living in the U.K. The founder has been using the term “Shagbook” in his personal life since the year 2000, and created the Shagbook website as a casual dating site in the U.K. back in 2006, before Facebook was popular. “He very innocently created the name ‘Shagbook,’ using it to refer to his version of the ‘little black book,’” said Brooks, an online-dating industry consultant who blogs at Online Personals Watch.
by Joe Mullin
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