If there's a station branded as "Party" for example, and another station in the same market adopts the slogan "The Party Station," would the station branded as "Party" have the rights to sue?
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I can't seem to find the right forum for this, so I'll put it here.
- Thread starter 101.9 La Kalle
- Start date
It depends on if the phrase was trademarked in that market. Typically, a trademark has to be very specific in terms of usage. Sometimes it will even include the way the word is portrayed in graphics, or if it's combined with other words. So it's possible that a station can call itself Party 105, and another station use The Party Station. But you have to check the trademark database.
There's a similar discussion for the use of the word Wolf for the new country station in Long Island. Wolf is not trademarked.
There's a similar discussion for the use of the word Wolf for the new country station in Long Island. Wolf is not trademarked.
I explained this in detail in this thread last month...
Party is too generic of a term to be trademarked on a national level. But if a station has a statewide servicemark on the term there may be a case.
Party is too generic of a term to be trademarked on a national level. But if a station has a statewide servicemark on the term there may be a case.
Actually, Cromwell does have a national service mark for "Party" and filed a suit against a station in Toledo, OH over this in 2022 that was resolved in 2023. Apparently, the service mark was renewed in 2019 for another 10 year period, although the article cited calls it a 'trademark'.
From Inside Radio:
Cromwell, Fusion Radio Settle Infringement Suit Over ‘Party’ Handle.
The Cromwell Group has dismissed its trademark infringement lawsuit against Fusion Radio over the use of the “Party 103.3” moniker after the two parties reached an out of court settlement.
You're correct. I completely forgot about that and should've looked it back up in TESS.Actually, Cromwell does have a national service mark for "Party" and filed a suit against a station in Toledo, OH over this in 2022 that was resolved in 2023. Apparently, the service mark was renewed in 2019 for another 10 year period, although the article cited calls it a 'trademark'.
From Inside Radio:
Cromwell, Fusion Radio Settle Infringement Suit Over ‘Party’ Handle.
The Cromwell Group has dismissed its trademark infringement lawsuit against Fusion Radio over the use of the “Party 103.3” moniker after the two parties reached an out of court settlement.www.insideradio.com
Cromwell is also VERY litigious in protecting their trademarks. Everything else in my other post about how the trademarks work stands.
The only reason I remembered this was I was looking at a station and thought about the Party brand and then thought, "Yeah, no, I don't want to fight with someone like Cromwell, so I'll look at other branding"...