Religious Broadcaster Reserves the KTRU Call Letters with the FCC

[dx7]

According to the FCC Call Sign Reservation system today, a Missouri City broadcast company --
Grace Public Radio -- wants to get the KTRU call letters for one of its stations.

FROM THE FCC WESBITE:

A request for KTRU dated 05/10/2011 has been filed
by GRACE PUBLIC RADIO.

Our records contain the following address(es) for above requester(s):
REQUESTED CALL SIGN KTRU
LICENSEE/PERMITTEE GRACE PUBLIC RADIO
MISSOURI CITY STATE TX ZIP 77459

 

[johndavis]

According to the FCC Call Sign Reservation system today, a Missouri City broadcast company --
Grace Public Radio -- wants to get the KTRU call letters for one of its stations.

FROM THE FCC WESBITE:

A request for KTRU dated 05/10/2011 has been filed
by GRACE PUBLIC RADIO.

Our records contain the following address(es) for above requester(s):
REQUESTED CALL SIGN KTRU
LICENSEE/PERMITTEE GRACE PUBLIC RADIO
MISSOURI CITY STATE TX ZIP 77459

I could see why a religious broadcaster would want calls that say "True."

Good luck using them on the air. Before getting bids for KTRU, the administration trademarked the call letters.

Word Mark KTRU
Goods and Services IC 038. US 100 101 104. G & S: Radio broadcasting and internet radio broadcasting of music and news programs through the use of a global computer network; and transmission of webcasts through the use of a global computer network. FIRST USE: 19700930. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19700930
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Trademark Search Facility Classification Code LETTER-3-OR-MORE KTRU Combination of three or more letters as part of the mark
SHAPES-MISC Miscellaneous shaped designs
Serial Number 76702736
Filing Date April 30, 2010
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition September 28, 2010
Registration Number 3888400
Registration Date December 14, 2010
Owner (REGISTRANT) William Marsh Rice University NON PROFIT CORPORATION TEXAS 6100 Main Street Houston TEXAS 77005
Attorney of Record Elizabeth R. Hall
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

 

[Mediafrog+]

I thought the FCC actually "owned" the calls as they are government issued, and not really the "property" of the licensee.

Otherwise anyone could trademark any given set of call letters, whether in use or not. Sort of like cybersquatting with URL registrations.

 

[TexasTuner]

I thought the FCC actually "owned" the calls as they are government issued, and not really the "property" of the licensee.

Otherwise anyone could trademark any given set of call letters, whether in use or not. Sort of like cybersquatting with URL registrations.

Agreed. Rice isn't a broadcast licensee anymore. They can't lay claim to any set of FCC call letters, AFAIK. And, I will say I'm not a lawyer, don't play one on TV, and my legal education comes mostly from legal dramas. But I believe I'm correct as is the previous poster. Now, if someone in Houston grabbed the call letters "KTRU" and went on air with them, Rice might have cause for action. But frankly, outside of the small Rice community, and the even smaller Rice community that even listened to KTRU when it was operating, who cares? It's a moot point. They may have wanted to trademark the call sign for their internet station (KTRU.ORG). Perhaps save their iconic bumper stickers. But outside of that, what else do they have? And these calls will be assigned to a station in SE Kansas, some 638 miles (by car) from Rice and Houston.

While it would be costly to all concerned, it would be an interesting legal exercise to see this go to court. The FCC would prevail, Rice would lose.

My 2 cents worth.

 

[johndavis]

I thought the FCC actually "owned" the calls as they are government issued, and not really the "property" of the licensee.

I'm not saying that Rice holding a federal trademark will stop the FCC from issuing the call sign, and I don't think they would try to stop the call sign from being issued.

However, if Rice enforces its trademark, they will make it extremely difficult for someone to call a radio station KTRU or put it on the internet. If you go looking for KTRU, they want to ensure that you find the student station at ktru.org and not a religious station somewhere else.

Filing for the call sign is easy. Using it may be messy.

Otherwise anyone could trademark any given set of call letters, whether in use or not. Sort of like cybersquatting with URL registrations.

Anybody with $10 can squat on a URL. Obtaining and maintaining a federal trademark requires that you actually use it in commerce and can prove it.

 

[TexasTuner]

I thought the FCC actually "owned" the calls as they are government issued, and not really the "property" of the licensee.

I'm not saying that Rice holding a federal trademark will stop the FCC from issuing the call sign, and I don't think they would try to stop the call sign from being issued.

However, if Rice enforces its trademark, they will make it extremely difficult for someone to call a radio station KTRU or put it on the internet. If you go looking for KTRU, they want to ensure that you find the student station at ktru.org and not a religious station somewhere else.

Filing for the call sign is easy. Using it may be messy.

Otherwise anyone could trademark any given set of call letters, whether in use or not. Sort of like cybersquatting with URL registrations.

Anybody with $10 can squat on a URL. Obtaining and maintaining a federal trademark requires that you actually use it in commerce and can prove it.

So, are you saying that any station that has the callsign "KTRU" can't legally identify themselves, as required by FCC regulations? Or, do you mean that using the callsign to promote itself is the issue? Just curious. If "using it may be messy" were the case, then I would think we would have seen these issues before. Someone copyrights a call sign, and when a legitimate broadcaster gets the same callsign, they're prohibited from using it? Something doesn't make sense.

It would be interesting for someone with a knowledge of broadcast law to chime in.

 

[johndavis]

It would be interesting for someone with a knowledge of broadcast law to chime in.

It wouldn't be a broadcast law case. This is trademark law. Will the existence of another radio station with those call letters harm their 40 year old brand? It will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens.

 

[mrbeasley]

Last time I checked, specific call letters couldn't be trademarked but an on-air logo could be; even if it contained some derivative of the call letters (i.e. "kay-true", or Rice Radio). So, they can keep another entity from using "K-TRU" but, they can't stop the new owners of the call sign from using them in a legal, top-of-the-hour, station ID; as in "K-T-R-U". The federal law that, by international treaty, requires a station to properly identify itself would nullify the trademark; and the case would be thrown out.

At one point in time, I believe there was a moratorium on the re-use of a call sign by another entity. That must not be the case any longer. I'm sure there were many others wanting to get their hands on that call sign. These lucky people must have just been the first ones in the door with their request.

 

[johndavis]

Last time I checked, specific call letters couldn't be trademarked but an on-air logo could be; even if it contained some derivative of the call letters (i.e. "kay-true", or Rice Radio). So, they can keep another entity from using "K-TRU" but, they can't stop the new owners of the call sign from using them in a legal, top-of-the-hour, station ID; as in "K-T-R-U". The federal law that, by international treaty, requires a station to properly identify itself would nullify the trademark; and the case would be thrown out.

Rice holds a the trademark for KTRU as referenced above as well as for "Rice Radio."

Doing a quick search, I found that KKBQ is a federally registered trademark of Cox Radio (originally filed by Harte Hanks in the 1980's). KIIS is a federally registered trademark of Clear Channel (originally filed by Gannett) as is its slogan "Kiss-FM.". KHMX was trademarked by Nationwide in 1990, but cancelled in 2002. Other former Nationwide stations such as KZZP and WOMX have current live trademarks that have transferred to their current owner.