Two companies have filed lawsuits against Current TV claiming trademark infringement. According to the article from the Associated Press, both companies claim they filed for trademarks on variations of the word “Current” before Current TV was founded in April, 2005.
Minnesota Public Radio says it applied to register “The Current” a few months before Current TV changed its name from the planned “INdTV” to “Current TV.” First off, I’m not sure why a public radio station would want to sue a company that is creating a venue for the public to display their projects. Second, how does trademarking “The Current” even have anything to do with “Current TV”? Current TV does have “pods” with the phrase “the current” within them, but none are exclusively “The Current” (e.g. “The Current Comic,” “The Current Interview,” etc.). Third, who would confuse a radio station with a cable channel, especially when it’s called Current TV?
The other company, Current Communications, claims they registered several different variations of “Current” trademarks before Current TV’s launch. Doing a search for “Current TV” on their site turns up no results. Is anyone going to confuse a broadband-over-power-line company with a TV channel? Also, according to a statement made by Current TV earlier this month, there are more than 300 businesses using the word “current” somewhere in their name.
Current TV was founded in 2004 when Al Gore’s company bought Newsworld International from the CBC.
