Call Signs Can be Trademarked?

Radio and television stations generally do not have much in the way of trademark issues. The main intellectual property issues for these stations are copyright-related, be it the content that is aired, licenses for music, etc. But, trademark law does serve a useful purpose for radio and television stations, if in a limited capacity.

Have you ever considered registering your call sign as a trademark?

Not so long ago, this was a very thorny question, as the FCC exerted a great deal of control on this issue. It has since given up its role as authority over call signs - other than to register them for use on radio and television stations. The Patent & Trademark Office now has sole dominion over registering call signs as marks.

As with all potential registration applications, however, the key question to ask is: are you using the call sign as a mark? To 'use' a mark, means to use it on goods or services as a source identifier. Thus, 'Apple' for computers identifies to consumers that Apple Computers created the product that they are using. At its most basic level, the trademark is designed to allow consumers to make choices based upon reputation and goodwill of the business. This is why counterfeiting of goods is such a problem - it dilutes the goodwill of the brand by using it to sell shoddy merchandise.

For call signs, they can usually meet the requirement of being distinctive enough to function as a source indicator. The real question is whether they actually do function as a source indicator and that is usually dependent upon how the call sign is used.

Most frequently, the mark that is registered is the call sign plus some catch phrase that the station is using, so for example, KXYZ-FM "The Number One" can function as a mark as long as it is used to indicate that the radio services that are being provided come from KXYZ-FM. And, the call sign itself can also be registered assuming that it is used to denote the source of the services.

Registrations of marks are very advantageous - you can use the ® symbol, you have a registration with a presumption of validity when you go into court and, perhaps more importantly, your registration prevents others from registering the same or very similar marks. The costs are relatively low considering that you get a registration for 10 years (although an affidavit must be filed between the 5th and 6th year of registration and has a fee associated with it) and the benefits of that registration.

All in all, it is worthwhile to investigate this option very carefully.
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All text © 2008, Hardy, Carey, Chautin & Balkin, LLP. All Rights Reserved.