Hashtags increasingly used, not just on social media

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Thanks to social media, the hashtag has been brought to the forefront of our lexicon. Once used only by tech-savvy individuals, looking for a way to get trending tweets or posts, the word was then picked up by millennials who started to sprinkle it into their daily conversations, for example #BadDay or #SoOverit. And brands have adapted, following the trend dictated by their most desired target, millennials.

Why is hashtag usage so popular? The most important consumer brands worldwide have aligned with early adopters and are beginning to understand the importance of protecting their brand in the social media world, even when it comes to the hashtag. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) allows companies and individuals to register a hashtag “only if it functions as an identifier of the source of a holder’s goods or services.” And according to filed applications, quite a few companies are seeking to protect their brand online.

As a preventive measure, more and more companies are seeking to register hashtags as trademarks. According to research by Thomson CompuMark, in 2010, (four years after Twitter’s initial launch) only seven companies had applied for specific hashtags as trademarks. Of these, only five trademarks were granted. A few years later, the practice of registering hashtags as trademarks exploded, with the number of applications doubling each year. In 2015, 1,398 applications for specific hashtags were filed as trademarks. Over the past five years, 2,898 hashtag applications have been filed as trademarks globally.

Going into detail, as of 2015, the United States is in first place with the largest number of requested hashtags, 1,042, followed by Brazil (321), France (158), Great Britain (115), and Italy (115). American applicants have obtained the grant of one in three requested hashtags over the past five years. Curiously, Japan and China combined have requested fewer hashtags than Guatemala.

Not all hashtag trademark applications are approved, and many are simply abandoned. Since the first hashtags were granted as trademarks in 2010, it is likely that some applications will be abandoned during the process. But now things might start to change. In 2013, when the USPTO updated its criteria and began to recognize hashtags as registered trademarks, the success rate seems to be increasing.

With more and more time spent on social media, it is important for companies to do everything they can to protect their brand in this new space. As the study shows, companies all over the world are following this advice. #ProtectYourBrand

by Rob Davey, Director, Global Service & Customer Experience at Thomson Reuters