Is the thinking here that OpenAI is not going to defend that trademark? Or just kicking the can down the road on rebranding until the C&D letter arrives?
Well, GPT is simply an initialism for "Generative Pre-trained Transformer".
In Germany, a trademark can be lost if it becomes a "Gattungsbegriff" (generic term). This happens when a trademark becomes so well-known and widely used that it becomes the common term for a product or service, rather than being associated with a specific company or brand.
For example, if a company invented a new type of vacuum cleaner and trademarked the name, but then people started using that name to refer to all vacuum cleaners, not just those made by the company, the trademark could be at risk of becoming a generic term; which would lead to a deletion of the trademark. I think this is basically what happens to GPT here.
Btw, there are some interesting exampls from the past were trademarks were lost due to the brand name becoming too popular: Vaseline and Fön (hairdryer; everyone in Germany uses the term "Fön").
I also found some trademarks which are at risk of being lost: "Lego", "Tupperware", "Post" (Deutsche Post/DHL), and "Jeep".
I don't know how all this stuff works in America though. But it would honestly suck if you'd approve such a generic term as a trademark :/
But can you trademark a vacuum cleaner called Vacuum-3 and expect the trademark for the word "vacuum" to be awarded to you?
What OpenAI did was the opposite of what you describe, they took an already-generic term and used it for a product name. I wouldn't be surprised if they can't actually trademark that.
Actually in the UK and Ireland a vacuum cleaner is called a Hoover. But in general I think we do that less than Americans. For example, we don't call a public announcement system a "Tannoy". That's a brand of hifi speakers. And we'd say "photo copier" instead of Xerox.
Oh that's in Blighty too? I'm kinda surprised because we Irish share much of the British slang/lingo via TV and radio. I'd never think of calling it a Tannoy, but I'd know what you meant if you said it.
OpenAI has applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to seek domestic trademark registration for the term “GPT” in the field of AI.[64] OpenAI sought to expedite handling of its application, but the USPTO declined that request in April 2023.
This reminds me of the first generation of computers in the 40s and early 50s following the ENIAC: EDSAC, EDVAC, BINAC, UNIVAC, SEAC, CSIRAC, etc. It took several years for the industry to drop this naming scheme.
In Germany, a trademark can be lost if it becomes a "Gattungsbegriff" (generic term). This happens when a trademark becomes so well-known and widely used that it becomes the common term for a product or service, rather than being associated with a specific company or brand.
For example, if a company invented a new type of vacuum cleaner and trademarked the name, but then people started using that name to refer to all vacuum cleaners, not just those made by the company, the trademark could be at risk of becoming a generic term; which would lead to a deletion of the trademark. I think this is basically what happens to GPT here.
Btw, there are some interesting exampls from the past were trademarks were lost due to the brand name becoming too popular: Vaseline and Fön (hairdryer; everyone in Germany uses the term "Fön").
I also found some trademarks which are at risk of being lost: "Lego", "Tupperware", "Post" (Deutsche Post/DHL), and "Jeep".
I don't know how all this stuff works in America though. But it would honestly suck if you'd approve such a generic term as a trademark :/