Cease and Desist!

Nate and Connor received a very nice email on sunday from a producer of the NPR show Car Talk^®, which very politely asked us to please stop using the name of a quite popular radio show for our podunk operation. Which we have!
You’ll notice that all mention of Cars and Talking (together & separately) have been removed from this website. We are in a little bit of a jam, since we didn’t have any other names lined up for when this tragic + inevitable event occurred. So we turn to you, loyal listener of the radio show hosted on this website. Next thursday at our shiny new timeslot of 10pm E.S.T. we’ll be running an ON AIR CONTEST to determine the new name for our humble program. Call in to the show (785) 393-9367 or (781) 736-5277 and tell us your brilliant/witty/informative/non-infringing name. The best one (determined entirely arbitrarily by Me + Connor) will win sweet sweet prizes.

As a  reward for you nice folks, here’s the email we received!

Hi Lee,

Regards from Car Talk from NPR.

It was brought to our attention that you have a program on-air on WBRS and in iTunes, under the same name as Car Talk.

Tom and Ray Magliozzi, hosts and principle performers of the syndicated weekly series of radio programs “CAR TALK” are the owners of United States Patent and Trademark Office Registration No. 1,558,494 for the service mark “CAR TALK” for educational and entertainment services, namely, a radio program about cars distributed by National Public Radio.

To prevent any confusion, we need to ask that you promptly change the name of the program, and cease use of the name “Car Talk.”

With your cooperation, we can resolve this situation quickly and amicably and without the intervention of counsel. Please notify me that you have discontinued use of the name, and we’ll consider the matter closed.

Should I fail to receive your confirmation by Friday, February 14th, or should I continue to receive reports of our mark being used, I’ll forward this matter to our Executive Producer and legal counsel.

Please feel free to call me at 617-852-4261 if you have any questions about this matter, or require a copy of the trademark registration.  I would appreciate hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Doug Mayer

Online Producer

Car Talk