Nine and The Conversation resolve trademark dispute over brand-funded content series
Nine and The Conversation has resolved a trademark dispute over a brand-funded series called The Conversation with Alex Malley, with the TV network and its client, CPA Australia, agreeing to give up the name at the end of the current TV season.
In a post on academia meets journalism website The Conversation, editor Andrew Jaspan said a number of the site’s readers had been in contact to ask if they were associated with the CPA Australia initiative, which motivated them to bring a potential trademark breach to the attention of Nine.
“We are in no way affiliated with Channel 9’s The Conversation TV,” wrote Jaspan. “As the owner of ‘The Conversation’ trademark we felt that Channel 9’s use of our name was unfair and potentially confusing.
“At our request, Channel 9 has agreed to cease referring to the program as The Conversation and will, after eight airings of the show, rebrand the program.”
While the program, which aired the first of this season’s episodes this past Sunday, will remain on air under The Conversation for the next two months, Jaspan noted that Nine had agreed to put a disclaimer about the use of The Conversation’s name on its website and associated social media channels.
Nic Christensen
Well actually, neither Nine or The Conversation can claim prior ownership of the name. The Sydney Morning Herald was using the slogan Start A Conversation as early as 2006.
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The Conversation is too general to be able to be protected.
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