by Dennis Crouch
In Rogozinski v. Reddit, the Supreme Court is being asked to resolve trademark ownership for a mark for a user-created online community. The Ninth Circuit held that Reddit, not Rogozinski, owns the WALLSTREETBETS trademark because Reddit “created and provided the services that enabled Reddit’s many users to contribute to the discussion” on the subreddit r/wallstreetbets. Rogozinski argues this reasoning conflicts with bedrock trademark principles, contradicts TTAB decisions, and only conflicts with Reddit’s claims of Section 230 immunity.
The key trademark cases relate to manufactures vs distributors, with manufacturers typically having superior rights over distributors. But petitioners argue that the content creators (reddit users) are the manufacturers and the platform (reddit itself) is merely a distributor.
Background: Rogozinski founded r/wallstreetbets in 2012, creating an online community for retail investors to discuss aggressive trading strategies. Through his moderation and community-building efforts over eight years, WALLSTREETBETS developed a distinctive culture that eventually sparked the 2021 GameStop short squeeze and meme stock phenomenon. By 2020, the subreddit had grown to over one million subscribers. At that point Rogozinski filed a trademark application for WALLSTREETBETS. Reddit then suspended his account for “attempting to monetize a community” and filed its own competing TM application. Rogozinski sued in the N.D. California, seeking a declaratory judgment that he owns the mark. The district court dismissed on Reddit’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed in an unpublished decision.
The Ninth Circuit concluded that the “core” services at issue are provision and hosting of r/WallStreetBets. Reddit provided the technical infrastructure for the service and thus was the first to use the mark in commerce. The court found Rogozinski “failed to adequately plead ownership” because he did not provide these core hosting services. The SCOTUS petition argues the relevant service is not generic discussion forum hosting (which Reddit provides to all subreddits) but rather the specific community that Rogozinski created, moderated, and cultivated with its distinctive personality and trading culture.
Section 230: Perhaps the petition’s most creative argument involves Section 230, which immunizes platforms from liability for user-generated content by treating them as non-publishers. 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1). Reddit successfully invoked Section 230 to dismiss Rogozinski’s state law claims in the same litigation, arguing it bore no responsibility for creating subreddit content. The petition argues Reddit cannot simultaneously claim it is not the creator of WALLSTREETBETS content for liability purposes under Section 230 while claiming it is the creator of WALLSTREETBETS services for trademark ownership purposes. If the relevant service is the content and community (as Rogozinski argues), then by Reddit’s own Section 230 admission, Rogozinski as the “information content provider” must be the source.
Of course, this argument slightly misses the mark because trademark rights are not based upon creation but rather use in commerce.
This case is incredibly important in practical terms, Dennis. If Reddit wins this case, then anyone planning to create an online community should forswear the use of social platforms like Facebook, Reddit, X, LinkedIn, Instagram. This is what web experts have been warning about for decades, digital sharecropping, where the host tries to take over one’s cleared and tilled fields.
Shopify has a version of this where they take a percentage of revenue from your shop but what Reddit is attempting to do here is outrageous. Just when one thinks current US business ethics could not fall lower, someone new pops up. Rumpelstiltskin had nothing on our would-be digital overlords.