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GENERAL REMARKS
IV. Defending our IP assets
With social media becoming more prevalent to conduct business and to interact with consumers, but also for users to express their opinion about our company and our products, more challenges arise to defend our IP rights against infringements and to avoid reputational harm to our brands. The main IP issues in the social media context refer to trade- marks and copyrights, but also other legal fields can be concerned, such as advertising laws, data protec- tion and privacy law, etc.. Some factors to consider to manage those risks are:
• To avoid dilution of the brands ensure consistent use of our trademarks.
• When using user generated content ensure that no third party trademarks are visible.
If necessary blur them.
• Never copy & paste materials from the Internet, e.g. photos, images.
• Use only approved images where the origin is known and had been cleared.
• If using the same social media page for advertising in multiple countries make sure
that we own the trademark rights and copyrights in each country and that the promotions comply with the local laws.
• Prior to posting content that includes celebrities ensure that we have the respective agreements in place or verify that the laws concerning rights of publicity or privacy are not infringed.
• Create guidelines outlining the terms and conditions for using our trademarks and other intellectual property to inform users about the acceptable activity.
For internal use only
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