Worldwide Trademarks | Comprehensive Real-time Monitoring for Your Brand

PayPal Enhances Cashback Program and Launches Major U.S. Ad Campaign

Sep/16/2024

PayPal is ramping up its cashback rewards program to drive in-store usage, particularly for groceries and gas, marking a shift from its traditional online payment model. CEO Alex Chriss highlighted the program's success during a Goldman Sachs conference, emphasizing PayPal's goal to become a more habitual payment method. To support this strategy, PayPal launched its largest U.S. advertising campaign, featuring actor Will Ferrell and a reimagined version of Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere." The campaign showcases the ease of using PayPal's services across various shopping scenarios, offering up to 5% cashback with the PayPal Debit Mastercard. Additionally, the company is pushing to expand Venmo’s in-person usage and integrating with Apple and Google wallets. PayPal is also exploring NFC contactless technology in Europe, with potential expansion to the U.S. The tag clouds below highlight pending and registered trademarks held by PayPal in the U.S., showcasing the breadth of its brand protection efforts across its expanding service offerings.

Instagram Expands DM Features While Winning Legal Battles to Protect Its Platform

Sep/10/2024

As Instagram rolls out new features for Direct Messaging, including drawing tools, stickers, birthday notifications, and personalized chat themes, the platform is also actively defending its brand against unauthorized use. In two recent legal victories, Instagram and its parent company Meta Platforms successfully reclaimed domain names that offered tools for downloading Instagram content, including Reels and Stories. One case targeted <igreelsdownload.xyz>, which enabled users to download Reels without authorization, while another focused on <instagramstoryviewer.info>, which offered tools for viewing and saving content without permission. Both domains were found to be infringing on Instagram’s trademarks and were transferred to Meta. This legal push aligns with Instagram's broader strategy to enhance user engagement, especially as Reels become a dominant feature on the platform. The following chart shows the average reach of Instagram Reels from 2023 to 2024 by number of followers, indicating a significant shift toward Reels as a primary mode of content consumption. With DMs now the preferred channel for sharing Reels, Instagram's introduction of new messaging tools underscores its commitment to evolving with user behavior while protecting its ecosystem from unauthorized tools and potential security risks.

Zoom Video Faces Trademark Opposition from Japanese Musical Equipment Maker

Sep/11/2024

On September 9, Kabushiki Kaisha Zoom, a Japanese company established in 1983 and renowned for producing electronic musical instruments, filed a trademark opposition against Zoom Video Communications, Inc. The dispute centers on the similarity in their names and visually similar trademarks, both using "ZOOM." The Japanese company's trademark is registered under classes 9 and 15, covering musical equipment like sound processors, recorders, and microphones. Meanwhile, Zoom Video Communications' trademark falls under class 35, which relates to retail services for promotional merchandise, such as clothing and accessories. The non-overlapping nature of the trademark classes may weaken the Japanese company's argument, as the products and services involved differ substantially. The visualisation below compares the trademarks and provides detailed information about each, highlighting the specific areas of contention in this case.

Microsoft Wins Key Domain Disputes, Strengthens Control Over Xbox Branding

Sep/05/2024

In two recent WIPO domain name dispute rulings, Microsoft Corporation successfully secured the transfer of the domains `<xboxgaming.com>` and `<xboxgamer.com>`, arguing both were confusingly similar to its "XBOX" trademark. In the case against Nidal Elkadri, the panel concluded that the respondent had no legitimate rights to the domain and had acted in bad faith by using the site for commercial gain through third-party links. Similarly, in the dispute with Park Taewon, the panel found that despite the respondent’s claims of a legitimate purchase, the passive holding of the domain, given the strong recognition of Microsoft's trademark, suggested bad faith intent. These decisions highlight Microsoft's dominant presence in this space, where 30.4% of `<xboxgaming>` and `<xboxgamer>` domains are active, and 71.4% of those are controlled by Microsoft. The remaining domains are parked and not available for sale, reflecting a broader trend seen across various generic and country-code top-level domains, as illustrated in the accompanying chart.