Could Mindich have worked a deal to park WFNX on a boat somewhere?

[Kevin Vahey]

This is why lawyers get rich.....

Hypothetically let us say 96.9 decided to drop talk and go alternative
and were awarded the calls WFNX. In a case like that how could Mindich
argue he still owns the trademark after selling the station? CBS can
happily park calls like WBCN somewhere but the Phoenix can not.

Carry it one step further - if another station did get the calls WFNX
could they then challenge that they should own wfnx.com?

I heard tonight that CBS just might do it as WBMX means nothing to them.





On Sat, Jul 21, 2012 at 11:59 PM, Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com> wrote:
> I think that's a precedent the FCC really doesn't want to set.
>
> I don't think Mindich has much cause to worry about someone else getting the
> WFNX calls. Assuming he has his ducks in a row with trademarking (or at
> least service-marking) "WFNX" in connection with radio and internet
> broadcasting in the Boston market, it wouldn't do anyone else much good to
> snag the callsign in or near Boston. What could they actually do with it,
> other than mumble it once an hour?
>
> The better question, perhaps, is why in the world the Coast Guard still
> needs four-letter callsigns at all. I've never heard of the Coast Guard
> failing to release a callsign when it's requested by a broadcaster, so they
> can't be of any great significance to USCG.
>
> s
>
>
> On 7/21/2012 11:50 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote:
>>
>> The FCC is political - we all know that.
>>
>> Now in theory the call sign WFNX should go into the pool on Monday -
>> but could they wind up on a boat like WCAS?
>>
>>
>> Call Sign WCAS is not available.
>> WCAS is assigned to the U. S. Coast Guard.
>> Vessel Information:
>> WCAS reserved for coast guard per Rebecca Little's request. Vessel
>> Name: Waverider Document No: 1056140
>> To obtain additional information, contact:
>> Ms. Doris McGhee
>> The Call Sign Desk
>> (Tel. 202-418-1616)
>> To request release of a Coast Guard call sign, contact:
>> Kim Demory or Betty Martin
>> U. S. Coast Guard
>> National Vessel Documentation Center
>> (Tel. 1-800-799-8362)
>>
>>
>> I also know WXPO is on a boat - not that anybody would want them :)
>>
>>
>> Call Sign WXPO is not available.
>> WXPO is assigned to the U. S. Coast Guard.
>> Vessel Information:
>> WXPO-TV
>> To obtain additional information, contact:
>> Ms. Doris McGhee
>> The Call Sign Desk
>> (Tel. 202-418-1616)
>> To request release of a Coast Guard call sign, contact:
>> Kim Demory or Betty Martin
>> U. S. Coast Guard
>> National Vessel Documentation Center
>> (Tel. 1-800-799-8362)
>>
>