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The Zest

Can You Trademark Your Podcast, YouTube Channel or Newsletter Name?

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"Can I trademark the name of my podcast?" The same question comes up for YouTube channels and newsletters, and the answer is usually yes. The USPTO won't register the title of a single creative work, like one book or one film. But a podcast, a channel and a newsletter keep putting out new content under the same name, and the name of a series can work as a brand. What decides it is how you describe what the name is used for, and what you show as proof.

Here's how the rule works and where creators get caught.

Why a single title can't be a trademark

The USPTO's examination manual says the title of a single creative work has to be refused, on both the Principal and the Supplemental Register. The reasoning is that a single title names the work itself. It tells you what the book is, not who stands behind it, and a trademark has to do the second job.

Single works include books, films, individual sound recordings and theatrical productions. Putting the same work out in different formats doesn't change that: a book sold in print and as an ebook is still one work. For entertainment services, the manual draws the same line. The title of a continuing radio or TV series can be a service mark. The title of one episode, or one event presented as one program, can't.

There's no back door, either. You can't get around this refusal by proving that people have come to recognize the title.

Why a series name is different

The manual treats a work as part of a series when the content changes from issue to issue or performance to performance. Its examples include magazines, newsletters and other periodicals, along with television and radio series. The USPTO's own example of a registrable series title is SERIAL, shown in advertising as the title of a series of non-downloadable podcasts.

A podcast with a new episode every week fits that description. So does a newsletter. The manual doesn't name YouTube, but a channel that keeps publishing new videos under one name looks a lot more like a TV series than a single film.

The catch is proof. To get past a single-work refusal, you need evidence that the name is used on at least two different works. A plan to make more isn't enough, and neither is the same episode offered in a second format. One pilot episode, however good, is a single work until the second one exists.

What you're registering it for

Every application lists the goods or services the name is used for, sorted into classes. For a show, the main use is usually a service.

A podcast or YouTube channel typically belongs in Class 41, the entertainment class. The SERIAL example sits there, and the international class list includes services like providing online videos that aren't downloadable. If you also offer downloadable episodes, that's a product in Class 9, which covers recorded and downloadable media.

A newsletter depends on how readers get it. Printed newsletters and periodicals are Class 16. A downloadable electronic publication is Class 9. A newsletter people read online without downloading falls in Class 41 as an online publication service.

Each class costs money. Under the fee schedule in effect since January 18, 2025, the base fee is $350 per class, so a podcast filed in Class 41 and Class 9 starts at $700 in government fees.

The proof you file, called a specimen, has to show the name actually being used to offer the service: the show's page, an episode listing, an ad for the show. A mockup or a digitally created image doesn't count.

Merch is a separate use

Once a show has an audience, the name ends up on hoodies, mugs and stickers. Two rules matter here.

First, merch doesn't prove a series. The manual says using a title on collateral goods like posters, mugs, bags or T-shirts does not establish a series. The show itself has to do that.

Second, merch needs its own coverage. A Class 41 registration covers entertainment services, not clothing. To protect the name on apparel, the application has to list those goods in their own class, and the name has to appear as a brand, not as decoration. The USPTO's own example of ornamental use is a large quote across the front of a T-shirt: buyers read it as decoration and look to the neck label to tell them who made the shirt. A name on the neck label, a hang tag or a small chest logo reads as a brand.

If the merch line is still a plan, you can file for it based on intent to use and show the use later, at the cost of another class fee.

Before you file

Three things to settle first.

Make sure the name can be yours. Show names are often built from the topic, and a name that just describes the content is hard to register. Strong names are easier to own than weak ones, and a clearance search before filing tells you whether someone already has something close.

Decide who owns it. The application has to be filed by whoever owns the name on the filing date, and naming the wrong owner can't be fixed later by amendment. If you have a co-host, a producer or a network involved, settle ownership in writing before anyone files. The contracts that protect your brand are where that lives.

Think about timing. You can file before launch on an intent-to-use basis, and the examiner generally won't issue a single-work refusal until you file proof of use. By then you'll want at least two episodes or issues out under the name.

If your show or newsletter has a name you're building on, you can see how the search and filing packages work on the services page, and the FAQs page answers most of what comes up before a first call.

Book a free 15-minute discovery call with the attorney (opens in a new tab)

(No legal advice is given on the discovery call. It's a chance to tell me what you're building and hear how the process works.)

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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