CorpComms Magazine

Facebook has removed the www.facebook.com/merck URL from its site while the courts decide which company owns the rights to the page.

The move follows court action by German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA, which first created the page. It called on a New York City court to force social networking site Facebook to explain why its page was replaced by rival company, US-based Merck & Co.

The German company said that its Facebook page had been 'misappropriated', and added that Facebook had been uncooperative in resolving the issue.

Merck KGaA gained exclusive rights from Facebook to the use of the web page in March last year, but last month the company realised it no longer had administrative rights to the page and that had been filled with content relating to Merck & Co.

The German company explained: 'Because Facebook is an important marketing device, the page is of great value, and its misappropriation is causing harm to Merck.'

The US Merck made an announcement on its Facebook page yesterday saying the URL had been revoked: 'Facebook announced plans to decommission our vanity URL due to an administrative error on Facebook's part. We want to assure you that our Facebook page will remain active and continue to serve as a helpful resource for information on health and well-being. We thank you for your patience and continued support.'

Facebook put the mixup down to an 'administrative error', and has since apologised.

Both Mercks have been told that although the page in question will be unavailable until ownership rights have been established, they are free to create new Facebook pages with titles that reflect their own company. The two firms were once part of the same enterprise but have been separate companies for nearly one hundred years.

http://www.corpcommsmagazine.co.uk/news/1917-german-merck-challenges-facebook-in-us-courts

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