How to get your username on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus or Pinterest if it’s already taken and what can you do to get it back. So you thought of that perfect business name and you check all the social media accounts and some are taken and some are not. What can you do to get them back? First I make a list of the ones I have versus on the ones I don’t have already made. Then I go to the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and check for a trademark search and see if anyone else owns the name outright for the services that you’re doing for your business.

If there isn’t a trademark on file, the I recommend applying for a trademark, it cost $275 through LegalZoom and you get a registration number in a PDF file from the USPTO. Now you can contact the social media legal department for copyright infringement of your trademark by putting in your registration number. I listed the links below for each social media copyright legal department contact form.

Facebook Copyright/Trademark Legal Department Form

Twitter Copyright/Trademark Legal Department Form

Instagram Copyright/Trademark Legal Department Form

Pinterest Copyright/Trademark Legal Department Form

Google Plus Copyright/Trademark Legal Department Form

Now 99% of the time you will get a reply stating Facebook, Instagram, etc will handover the username account that you want to you, but this will probably take two to three months to process. You need to have an active business, brick and mortar and/or a website presence to be taken seriously. Also, you need to email using your domain name, such as hello@yourdomain.com or something of that effect, it cannot be from a gmail, yahoo or hotmail email account.