OpenAI tries to speed up trademark application for GPT
OpenAI applied for a trademark to block other companies from using the “GPT” acronym in December 2022, as several are piggybacking off the popularity of ChatGPT, TechCrunch reports.
GPT is short for Generative Pre-trained Transformer, and the company’s chatbot-like language model ChatGPT launched in November 2022.
Since its launch, similar applications with names like ThreatGPT, MedicalGPT, DateGPT and DirtyGPT have started to appear, prompting the company to protect its brand.
In March 2023, OpenAI petitioned to have the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) speed up the process. It cited a “myriad infringements and counterfeit apps” that are starting to materialise.
However, the USPTO dismissed its petition, claiming that the startup’s attorneys failed to pay an associated fee and provide “appropriate documentary evidence supporting the justification of special action.”
Therefore, the outcome of its trademark application could still take months to be finalised.
Partner in the intellectual property group of Carr & Ferrell and chair of the firm’s trademark practice group Jefferson Scher told TechCrunch there is no guarantee that OpenAI could end up owning the “GPT” name.
However, one aspect favouring the startup’s application is that it has used the “GPT” abbreviation for years, since GPT-1 in October 2018.
If the USPTO has no problem with OpenAI’s application, it will be moved to an “opposition period”, where other market participants can argue why the agency should deny the “GPT” trademark.
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