Do we need a new name for Fancast?
October 19, 2006
Since June of this year we have been talking about Fancast (our entertainment version of PodServe). In fact we presented it at Under the Radar where it won “Best in Show” and the “Peoples Choice.” In July we entered into an agreement with FX Network to deliver fancast for use on the popular series, Nip/Tuck. Before we picked the name I did a quick check on the USPTO site to see if anyone had registered it as a trademark - the only application was rejected.
So I was surprised when I got a fax from Comcast this afternoon indicating that we were infringing their use of the name Fancast. The letter explained that they filed an application with the USPTO on August 22, 2006 to register Fancast as their trademark and in the coming months plan to use the name in trade. The letter was nice enough, indicating that they did not think our “infringement” was intentional (how could have it been since we started using it before they applied for a trademark on it?), but they insist that we stop using it immediately. The letter explained that thought we began using the name on September 26 - i.e. the date I blogged about the launch of the Nip/Tuck Fancast.
I responded to the fax from Comcast and explained that we had used the name in trade prior to their application and offered to talk about it with them tomorrow. Anyway, I hope it will end there, but you never know Comcast could eat us for lunch if they wanted to (oh and I get my internet access through them) - perhaps we will have to change the name of our service. Any ideas? How about COMcast? Wait, where have I heard that before?
