Drugmaker Merck challenges Facebook after 'losing' page

Merck KGaA wants to know why a rival has content on a Facebook page it thought it "owned"

The German drugmaker Merck KGaA has amorphous acknowledged activity adjoin Facebook afterwards advertent what its advocate declared as the "the credible takeover of its Facebook page".

The webpage is getting acclimated by the German firm's US battling Merck & Co.

Merck KGaA said that the amusing arrangement "is an important business accessory [and] the page is of abundant value", abacus that back its adversary was benefiting from the move "time is of the essence."

A Facebook backer said: "We are searching into it."

Merck KGaA said it had entered into an acceding with Facebook for the absolute rights to www.facebook.com/merck in March 2010.

The German close said a amount of its advisers had been afterwards assigned authoritative rights to the page.

However, Merck KGaA said that if it had arrested the website on 11 October this year it had apparent it had absent ascendancy of the page, and that agreeable on the website now belonged to Merck & Co.

Divided

The two drugmakers both axis from the aforementioned close set up by a pharmacy buyer in the German city-limits of Darmstadt in 1668.

The business was aperture in two afterwards World War I as allotment of the reparations amalgamation imposed on Germany.

Merck KGaA's lawyer, Robert Horowitz said he had beatific a letter and a alternation of emails to assorted Facebook agents allurement to altercate what had happened to the webpage.

However, he said the respondents "either did not accept the problem... [or were] carefully giving above answers".

Mr Horowitz said that if he had requested a blast conversation, one of Facebook's agents "incredibly replied that 'no-one is accessible for a alarm at this time'".

Legal steps

Merck KGaA has back filed a address with the- Supreme Cloister of the State of New York.

"We took acknowledged activity adjoin Facebook to ask for advice why a website we anticipation we endemic isn't ours anymore," Dr Gangolf Schrimpf, a agent for Merck KGaA, told the BBC.

"We are just aggravating to apprentice what happened."

However, the cloister filing addendum that: "Merck is because causes of activity for aperture of conduct, tortious arrest with contract, tortious arrest with -to-be business advantage, and/or conversion."

Interaction

Merck KGaA fatigued that it had not taken any activity adjoin its US analogue at this stage.

Facebook was afraid to accomplish a animadversion above adage that it was searching into the case.

Branding experts say the case reflects a growing acceptance that amusing networks can action firms a bigger way of extensive their barter than through their own websites.

"Company advice departments accept realised that abounding of the humans they wish to ability and access are already on Facebook," said Simon Myers, from the consultancy Figtree Network.

"As accumulated agreeable becomes added tailored and engaging, amusing media sites such as Facebook represent a brighter approaching of greater chump chat and alternation than the accepted accumulated website with changeless agreeable and pictures of humans afraid hands."
"Source From BBC News"

Posted in: Health