trademark
Can I use the name Winky Dink in my book titile?
<p>I want to write a book about an experience with my siblings that affected my whole life and I wanted to title it &quot;My Winky Dink Syndrome&quot;  or &quot;Winky Dink and Me&quot;</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winky_Dink_and_You" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Winky Dink and You</a> was an American children's television show that aired from 1953 to 1957.</p>

<p>We can't tell you if you can do that or not, because that would be specific legal advise. You should consult an attorney who specializes in trademark law to get an estimation of how risky it would be to use that name. So I am just giving you a couple general pointers.</p>
<p>Names are not protected by copyright, but by trademarks. The purpose of trademarks is to prevent consumer confusion. They are supposed to prevent someone from selling a product under a name which consumers might mistake for official merchandise of someone else. Media companies in particular tend to be very protective of their trademarks, because merchandising is often one of their main sources of revenue. And they don't want to share that revenue with people creating knockoff products. Also, they <em>must</em> fight for their trademark in court, because when they only enforce it selectively, then they risk that a court will consider the mark so widely used already that it is no longer worth protecting.</p>
<p>But the show is from the 1950s. Is the trademark still protected after all that time? Maybe. There are registered trademarks and unregistered trademarks. Registered trademarks, which usually but not always are followed by an &quot;®&quot; symbol, need to be renewed in regular intervals. So if someone still pays for the renewal, it might still be a protected trademark. Unregistered trademarks, which usually but not always are followed by a &quot;™&quot; symbol, are protected as long as they are &quot;used in commerce&quot;. Which means that if the IP owner of that show still sells products branded as &quot;Winky Dink and you&quot;, they can probably still claim unregistered trademark protection. In order to find out, you would need to do your own research or pay your attorney to do a trademark research for you.</p>
<p>Are your proposed names even a trademark violation? Perhaps, perhaps not. That's for a court to decide. Personally I think that &quot;Winky Dink and Me&quot; is more infringing than &quot;My Winky Dink Syndrome&quot;, because the first is a lot closer to the original name and brand image, giving it a higher likeliness of causing consumers to mistake it for an official &quot;Winky Dink and You&quot; product. But that's an argument you got to make in court. Estimating the chance that the judge will side with you and how much in legal costs it will take you to get to the point where you are even going to have the opportunity to make that argument is a job for your attorney.</p>
