Firm Sues Facebook Over Fresh Timeline Feature, States it Hijacked Its Username

Firm claims trademark infringement and that Facebook hijacked its username.

The Chicago firm that owns Timelines.com and a federally registered trademark for “Timelines” has filed a trademark infringement suit (pdf) against Facebook over its fresh “Timeline” feature. As stated by the suit:

Facebook has disclosed its intention to use and, indeed has by now begun to re-direct Internet traffic, using Timelines’ federally registered “TIMELINES” trademark as the centerpiece of Facebook’s fresh product offering going forward, a move that, given the size and reach of Facebook, will essentially eliminate Timelines and leave the public with the confusing impression that plaintiff Timelines is somehow affiliated with Facebook.

My first reaction is “how can a firm claim a trademark on ‘timeline’?”

But as stated by the lawsuit Facebook took another action that looks really bad. The plaintiff states that Facebook has taken over its Facebook page — Facebook.com/timelines — and forwarded it to Facebook.com/timeline, which is Facebook’s informational page regarding the fresh feature.

Yeah, that looks bad.