Last year, OpenAI filed a UDRP against the ChatGPT.com domain name. The company had been using Chat.OpenAI.com for its Chat GPT platform. In September, I shared that there appeared to be a settlement in that dispute, and ChatGPT.com transferred to OpenAI. For some time, the domain name forwarded to the subdomain that served as the ChatGPT base.
The company has now migrated its Chat GPT platform to ChatGPT.com:
sneaky
openai changed the domain of chatgpt from chat.openai to just chatgpt pic.twitter.com/3vh07bdHT8
— Sully (@SullyOmarr) May 6, 2024
If you visit chat.openai.com, you’ll be forwarded directly to the website at ChatGPT.com.
I presume OpenAI made this change because Chat GPT has grown enough that it has become its own well known brand name. Operating Chat GPT on its brand matching ChatGPT.com domain name is a sensible move.
There is also some controversy about Open AI claiming the trademark to “GPT”, and this URL change may help them with that. The USPTO rejected their trademark claim for “GPT”, but only because the USPTO said “GPT” was not widely known by the public. This means Open AI can apply for the trademark again later. Last year they had sent cease and desist notices to many AI sites using “GPT” in their domain. Even without owning a registered trademark, Open AI can still claim common law trademark rights to it, and possibly win a lawsuit, or possibly win an ICANN domain dispute, so it is risky to register a domain with “GPT” in it.
Companies frequently falter in major product launches due to their oversight in securing the appropriate domain, indicating a lack of domain name strategy. Consider Google Gemini, which followed their initial failed attempt, Bard, where they also neglected to acquire Bard.com. Despite their existing distribution channels, the absence of an Exact Brand Match domain is a significant deficiency. From my perspective, Gemini appears poised to follow in the footsteps of Bard as another potential rebranding effort.
I don’t think the term “neglected” is fair to use in this case. Bard.com is owned by a company with a $69 BILLION market cap. They might not have any interest in selling their domain name for any price. Maybe you can blame Google for branding their AI chat platform with a name that has an unavailable corresponding domain name, but they can’t control whether or not someone else sells them a domain name.
I believe Open AI received a final refusal on its GPT TM application with the USPTO
Moreover, it was the company that cited the meaning of GPT is/was not well known with consumers; however, the examining attorney cited documentation reflecting widespread use of GPT, and “GPT” would need to be disclaimed.
I would think companies using ____GPT will be fine unless the first word is Chatter or Chats, or ____ChatGPT as in LiveChatGPT – as these could cause confusion in interstate commerce.
I checked the USPTO per OpenAi’s TM application for “GPT”
The examining attorney made a final refusal citing below: (however, OpenAi has file an extension to appeal at the TTAB or make another response to the office action, so OPENAI really wants the “GPT” mark, and will spend lots of legal monies in an attempt to get it)
“The Internet attached evidence establishes that “GPT” is a widely used acronym which means
“generative pre-trained transformers,” which are neural network models that “give applications the
ability to create human-like text and content (images, music, and more), and answer questions in a
conversational manner.” See the previously and presently attached acronym definition and industry
definitions from Acronymfinder.com, Aws.amazon.com, H2O.AI, Newsweek, and NostaLab. Some
excerpts showing both use and description of “GPT” in applicant’s industry are below:
“Generative Pre-trained Transformers, commonly known as GPT, are a family of neural network
models that uses the transformer architecture and is a key advancement in artificial intelligence
(AI) powering generative AI applications such as ChatGPT.”