Singapore still up for grabs on Facebook

Following the Facebook land rush on Saturday, 13 June 2009, celebrity names like Richard Nixon, The Real Shaq and Snoop Dog were snapped up by less famous imposters. Others may be found here. Some have also been posted on auction block Assetize, www.facebook.com/assetize being by far the cheekiest. Vanity URLs for big boys Bank of America, Fox News and Chinese company Huawei are also up for sale. This could just be an exercise in futility though, as Facebook is currently sticking to their strict no-transfer policy, at least until they figure out a workable dispute resolution process.

As of today, www.facebook.com/singapore is still untaken. In Facebook-land, the great country of America, however, belongs to one Tegan Snyder of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Facebook.com/Me

Commencing Saturday 13 June 2009 (midnight, EDT), Facebook users may create personalised URLs for their Facebook pages (facebook.com/username). To prevent third parties from using famous trade mark(s) as or part of their personalised URLs, Facebook has provided an online form for trade mark owners to record their rights. The form is accessible here. The information required is :-

a. Company name
b. Title
c. Email address
d. Trade mark
e. Trade mark registration number (in any jurisdiction)

Once registered, the personalised URLs will be non-transferable. We encourage trade mark owners to take preventive action now rather than to enforce trade mark rights later

Having said that, how will Facebook verify the identity of the person submitting the form, if at all? Mr. X could very well obtain a trade mark number of a well-known mark off any of the online databases then tick the little box that says he is authorised by the trade mark owner. Hmm, and what if someone tries "facebook.com/louisevuitton" or "facebook.com/kelvinkline"? What then? I can't help but wonder ...