Podcast Name/Branding Issues

[Daniel Henderson]

Hello everyone,

I co-run a podcast called 'The IMDB Journey' where we are going through the Top 250 list from IMDb.com

We've been going strong for nearly 2 years and would like to start branching out into merchandise etc.

Where do we stand with branding and the overall name? I have samples of our logo/the IMDb logo, as well as new artwork we have on standby that we will be changing to anyway for other reasons. We are willing to change the name if need be, but are hoping not too of course.

Is the fact that we have 'IMDB' and the site is 'IMDb' make it different enough?

any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

You'll find that 'IMDB' is a registered trade mark, and the capitalisation (or non) makes no difference: Trade Mark 1015780 | IP Australia | Trade Mark Search

I'd suggest that the use of the trade mark without proper permission is going to get you into trouble sooner or later. The simplest and best action would be to contact them, explain what you're doing, and seek their approval.

 

[Daniel Henderson]

Thank you very much Rob!

 

[Scruff]

Interesting question considering that IMDb's main purpose for existence is to exploit other peoples intellectual property.