New Hampshire Public Radio, Magazine Publisher Tangle Over 'Outside/In,' 'Outside' Podcast Names

Two Outsides

NEW HAMPSHIRE PUBLIC RADIO is suing OUTSIDE magazine publisher MARIAH MEDIA NETWORK in U.S. District Court for the District of NEW HAMPSHIRE over the trademark "OUTSIDE/IN" for a podcast.

NHPR is seeking declaratory relief under the LANHAM Act to establish that MARIAH's trademark of the name "OUTSIDE" does not cover podcasts; the suit alleges that MARIAH has threatened to sue over NHPR's use of the term in the podcast's name. NHPR registered the URL outsideinradio.org on MARCH 3rd, 2015 and launched the website in NOVEMBER 2015, and started the podcast with a trailer under the "OUTSIDE/IN" name on NOVEMBER 20th, 2015. A broadcast version of the show began in APRIL 2016. The suit also points out that MARIAH's magazine itself recognized the show as "Best Podcast of 2016" in its DECEMBER 2016 issue.

Also in the suit, NHPR claims that MARIAH's trademark registrations cover the stylized mark (logo) used on the magazine and applies to “magazines in the field of outdoor sports, fitness and recreational activities” under one registration and "information in the field of outdoor sports, fitness and recreational activities by means of a global computer network" under the other.  MARIAH produced, in 1998-1999, a syndicated radio show under the name "OUTSIDE RADIO NETWORK," the name of which it registered as a trademark in 1999 but cancelled the registration in 2006. A podcast, "OUTSIDE," was started in MARCH 2016, after NHPR's had launched, and MARIAH subsequent to that but before it sent a cease-and-desist notice to NHPR, filed for a trademark to cover podcasts.

NHPR tells the court that the word "outside" is a common English word, and, therefore, MARIAH only has trademark rights in the stylized presentation of the word, not the word itself.

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