Wired: Digital Revolution is ours
Publishing company Wired Ventures has warned competitor Ziff-Davis to stay away from the phrase "Digital Revolution".
A spokeswoman at Wired confirmed published reports that Wired Ventures has warned media giant Ziff-Davis that it has trademarked the phrase "This is the Digital Revolution" and that Ziff's use of the phrase "The Digital Revolution Will Be Televised" in a Ziff advertisement is a trademark infringement.
Wired Ventures registered the phrase "This is the Digital Revolution" with the US Patent and Trademark Office in February of 1995. The use of the expression "The Digital Revolution" in an ad for Ziff's new television show The Site were more than enough to set Wired's legal dogs barking.
In a letter sent to Ziff-Davis legal offices, Wired asked the company to stop using the phrase.
A spokesperson at ZDTV, the San Francisco studio where "The Site" is filmed, would not comment.
The trademark spat comes at a time when Wired is preparing a television version of Netizen, the political news section of the print and online magazines. Netizen is scheduled to air on MSNBC, the cable channel that also carries ZDTV's The Site.
"When Wired Magazine launched in 1993, our editor John Battelle heralded the digital revolution, and we've spent a lot of money upholding that," a Wired legal staffer told the Netly News, which was the first to report the story.
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