Friendster's attempt to trademark "It's Complicated"

So being a big IP nerd, I was poking around Friendster the other day (yes, I still occasionally use it) and noticed that when someone's relationship status says "It's Complicated" there's a little "tm" after it:

That's odd, I thought.  So I went and looked up the US Patent and Trademark Record for it and sure enough, Friendster has filed for a trademark registration on "It's Complicated":

Word Mark	IT'S COMPLICATED
Goods and Services	IC  045.  US 100 101.  G & S: COMPUTER SERVICES, NAMELY, PROVIDING INFORMATION REGARDING, AND IN THE NATURE OF, ON-LINE DATING, SOCIAL INTRODUCTION, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING SERVICES.  FIRST USE: 20050714. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050714
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code	(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number	78429765
Filing Date	June 3, 2004
Current Filing Basis	1B
Original Filing Basis	1B
Published for Opposition	September 6, 2005
Owner	(APPLICANT) Friendster, Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 1380 Villa St. Mountain View CALIFORNIA 94043
Attorney of Record	Joel S. Gooch
Type of Mark	SERVICE MARK
Register	PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator	LIVE

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What's bizarre to me about this is what exactly, if anything, this trademark means.  The PTO document says that they are using the mark "It's Complicated" in conjunction with "Computer Services, namely, providing information regarding, and in the nature of, on-line dating, social introduction, and social networking services."

Yet, no one I know would think that.  It's not like Friendster offers an "It's Complicated" search service or introduction service where that phrase is used as a brand name.  Rather, it's information provided by the user themselves about their relationship status.  Again, here it is in context:

 

Trademarks are supposed to identify the source of a good or service.  But in this context, the phrase "It's Complicated" identifies the status of the user, not the source of anything from Friendster, Inc.  I suppose one could argue that the Friendster service is communicating the information by using the "IC" phrase, but again, it's the user that chooses that phrase and its meaning, not Friendster.

Of course, I completely understand Friendster wanting to have some kind of intellectual property right on the phrase, as it has become quite popular on social networking sites as a status for users who have varying degrees of relationship dysphoria, but trademark does not seem a good fit and frankly leaves me feeling quite Puzzled(tm).

 

Comments

[Dan]

When I encountered the following:

Male, 23, It's complicated TM
Interested In: Activity Partners

It made perfect sense to me all legal considerations aside. It's code Jason.

Why Friendster would choose to trademark the phrase is beyond me.

[Keith Wagner]

This is insightful as I was curious too why they would trademark 'It's complicated' I still don't get what it means. Does it mean your dating but also looking? I looked on their site but couldn't find an explanation. So I guess it really is complicated....or just plain confusing. Oh well...

[Maila]

I've been wondering for AGES why did they put a "tm" mark on "It's complicated." It's dumb, pointless, and very unnecessary.

[Tim Graham]

In all fairness, friendster set the table here. Friendster came up with the choice for the user to choose, not the user. I still think its pretty dumb, though, when these companies attempt to trademark common phrases.

Like, get over yourself, friendster, or else I just might I trademark the suffix "ster"(tm). See how you like it!

[DG]

So does that mean that i'm violating the law by putting It's Complicated as a status in any other site? Can they sue me for that?

If so i will try to patent WTF(tm) so i can sue everyone on the internet for using my trademark :)

[mike]

It looks like they have since abandoned their trademark:

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=jcfbpi.2.2

Abandonment Date February 28, 2008