Ownership of Social Media Accounts: Appellate Court Issues Second Decision

This article that originally appeared in World Trademark Review discussed round two before the Second Circuit regarding bridal wear designer Hayley Paige Gutman’s dispute with her former employer. The case is a cautionary tale regarding the effects of assigning trademark rights in one’s own name. The decision focused on the propriety and scope of a preliminary injunction preventing Ms. Guman from using social media accounts she created prior to her employment. In JLM Couture Inc. v. Gutman, the court provided a roadmap for the “relatively novel exercise” of determining ownership of social media accounts.