Orlando partner Rexford Stephens was quoted in the September 14, 2009, Nation's Restaurant News article, "'Social' Justice: Restaurants Fight 'Brandjacking' Threat."
According to the article, a company can be "brandjacked" if a scammer—or in some cases, a competitor—creates a false social-media profile and misrepresents that company online. While many instances of brandjacking are resolved once a cease-and-desist order is made, some restaurant operators are finding themselves turning to the courts for redress. However, currently there is no legal precedent for how laws which gave trademark owners the right to sue cybersquatters would apply to social-media profiles. So creating a false Facebook or Twitter page for somebody or some company is not covered by existing laws drafted to prevent or punish domain name abuse, according to the article.
"This really isn't a new concept," said Stephens. "It's been around in e-mail with your Nigerian-prince scams and before that with telephone scams or people going door to door. From a legal perspective, we apply the same rules and laws." In representing companies alleging online fraud, Stephens found Facebook, Twitter and MySpace to be responsive and cooperative in removing a false profile. "You should start by demonstrating that you have a protectable interest," such as intellectual property or slogans and signature products, he said. "If you can show that to the site, they likely will shut down the offending [page]."
Larger companies usually devote people and resources from their marketing departments to social-media creation and monitoring, Stephens added, pointing to Pizza Hut hiring a "twintern" to handle its Twitter feed or Domino's Pizza’s YouTube response to a negative viral video. Smaller companies without those resources could outsource the job to digital agencies or consulting firms that manage a company's online presence, Stephens said.