Wikipedia entry for WKOX

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Wed, 23 May 2012 21:39:39 -0400, Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com> said:

> On 5/23/2012 9:25 PM, Paul B. Walker, Jr. wrote:
>> Well, how can Mr. Mindich own the WFNX call letters? once the station 
>> is sold and Clear Channel changes calls, unless Mr. Mindich puts them 
>> somewhere else, they become available for another station to use.

> Evidently not, according to an article in this week's Boston Phoenix:  
> "WFNX's intellectual property, including its call letters, remains 
> property of the /Phoenix/."

The FCC has a different view.  You guess which one prevails.

(I just checked the Federal trademark register, and -- no surprise --
there is no Federal registration for the word mark "WFNX".  Any other
trademark rights Mindich may have are purely under Massachusetts law
and would not prevent someone in another state from claiming that call
sign.  He does have a Federal trademark registration for "The Boston
Phoenix", so it's not like he's not familiar with the system.)

It is a weird purchase for Clear Channel, though: can't be upgraded or
moved easily, doesn't really complement any of their existing signals,
doesn't have full-market coverage.  There's nobody currently operating
in Boston who would have an obvious interest in swapping something
else in another market for it.  Time will tell, of course.

-GAWollman