What’s in a name?

Have a podcast? You’d better find a good intellectual property lawyer…

If you’ve spent any time at all listening to podcasts, you know that it’s fairly common for there to be 3-4 podcasts with the same name. However, if someone has trademarked that name, they can send you a cease and desist letter, demanding you change the name of your podcast.

Even if you’re charting.

Even if they haven’t released any new content in several years.

Even if your podcast has more listeners.

Even if you started using the name first.

And here’s the most important part…

EVEN IF YOU’RE CANADIAN AND THE PODCAST NAME WAS TRADEMARKED IN THE USA.

Yes, you heard right.

While US trademarks don’t technically apply to Canadian entities, Apple and Spotify are American companies, which means the trademark applies in this case, and you could be forced to remove your podcast from those platforms. And if your podcast can’t be on Apple or Spotify, why bother?

My advice?

•Put some time and thought into the name of your podcast.

•Check if someone has already trademarked the name.

•And, consider filing a trademark to protect yourself from future litigation.

Not doing so could become a very costly lapse in judgement down the line.