provides tools to manage their classrooms, communicate with parents and
share lesson plans and other resources. The site isn’t officially
active yet, but managing director
“We’ve been sitting here scratching our heads for the last couple of days,” Shrader told the
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. district court in
Shrader said Teachbook filed a trademark application
about a year ago, and Facebook voiced its opposition during the last
half of 2009. There were “ongoing discussions” over use of the name and
Shrader believed “we were working constructively with (Facebook),” but
is now expecting to file a response to the
According to the filing posted on Wired.com,
Facebook said the “book” part of its name is “highly distinctive in the
context of online communities and networking websites.”
“If others could freely use ‘generic plus BOOK’
marks for online networking services targeted to that particular
generic category of individuals, the suffix BOOK could become a generic
term for ‘online community/networking services’ or ‘social networking
services,’ ” Facebook argued in the lawsuit. “That would dilute the
distinctiveness of the Facebook Marks.”
Shrader compared Facebook’s tactics to “bombing a
mosquito” and said the term “book” is a natural fit for his website,
since it relates to teachers and education.
Facebook was not immediately available for comment.
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