How using hashtags can get you in legal trouble

The pound sign (#) has seen a resurgence the past few years, as people repurpose it as the omnipresent hashtag on social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

Marketers and brand managers jumped on the hashtag train early (with some hilarious missteps), using hashtags to run giveaways, facilitate Twitter chats or get cheeky with brand audiences.

If you’re sharing content on behalf of a brand and you hashtag it with a competitor’s trademark, you might be breaking the law.

A trademark or service mark helps your audience identify goods or services from a specific source. The law protects businesses from unfair competition by making it illegal for someone else in your industry to use your protected mark on their competing goods.