Coca-Cola seeks to trademark two Twitter hashtags

The Coca-Cola Co. is seeking to trademark two Twitter hashtags, something it has apparently never done before. The soft drink giant (NYSE: KO) on Dec. 15 applied to trademark #cokecanpics and #smilewithacoke. A hashtag is a symbol used on San Francisco-based Twitter's short messaging service to help users find messages about specific topics. The symbol # is placed in front of a keyword or phrase. A Coca-Cola spokesman said in an e-mail that the company doesn't typically comment on trademarks. Other…