What's in a Name?
By
| May 24, 2004
Comedy Central parent Comedy Partners reached an amicable agreement with startup net Reality Central, thereby avoiding a trademark dispute, but RC likely will have to change its name. A non-disclosure agreement prohibits RC and Comedy Central from revealing terms of the agreement. As no formal action was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, RC is expected merely to abandon the trademark, which could expire as soon as 6 months from now, legal sources say. Interestingly enough, nobody challenged RC’s trademark at the time of its initial filing (9/11/02) through its notice of allowance in 11/03. A guess: Viacom didn’t get interested until RC scored its 1st carriage agreement, with insight, in Feb.