Posted by Barlow Keener

The blog Skype Journal  reported that Skype attorneys sent a cease and desist letter to Skype reporting blog, Skype-watch.com    Jan Geirnaert had been reporting on and analyzing Skype using the URLs’ Skype-Watch and Skype-Gadgets.  The reports were favorable to Skype and Geirnaert apparently participated in Skype panels and conferences for several years as reported by Robert Scoble in Scobleizer.   There are two possibilities for why the attorney’s letter was sent to the analyst:
                a) in-house trademark counsel at Skype was out of touch with senior management and Skype’s General Counsel and sent the letter without consultation, or
                b) Skype senior management did not appreciate Geirnaert’s recent analysis and requested the in-house trademark counsel to take action.  

If the latter occurred then Skype handled the matter well and accomplished the goal of temporarily shutting down any editorializing from Geirnaert under a report and URL containing the Skype trademark.   However, if this was the case, Geirnaert’s natural talents as a blogger will most likely resurface under a new URL and Skype may have wished it had not turned a PR friendly blogger into a harsh critic.   If the former occurred, and Skype in-house trademark counsel acted independently, it will be a good opportunity to create a process – which should have been in place prior to the letter being sent – to ensure that Skype’s in-house counsel is working in lock-step with the goals of senior management, investor relations, and the PR department.  A legal department in a large organization must depend on clear and easy to use processes to prevent such missteps.

Also, the action raises the issue as to general trademark law relating to analysts or news organizations’ use of a company’s trademark’s name in the URL, in the of title report, or in the headline within a report.  Skype is not the only company in this position, as an quick example there  is “Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report.” .  More to follow on this legal issue.