The term “webinar” has been registered as a word mark with the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) since July 2, 2003, under registration number 303160438. The rights holder is said to be a company based in Kuala Lumpur, represented by a law firm in Wiesbaden. And what does it do? Correct: it issues warnings to anyone who uses the term.
Seminars, events, and teaching units held online are currently one of the most popular and best means for organizers to hold events instead of face-to-face events. And the associated term “webinar” is correspondingly popular and in frequent use. However, using it carries the risk of receiving such a warning letter. Whether this will actually be enforceable has not yet been clarified and can be considered uncertain. However, you are skating on thin ice.
How to prevent this – get creative and use other terms
To prevent this, it is advisable to use other terms, e.g. “web seminar,” “online learning event,” “digital seminar,” “digital online learning event with video transmission technology,” or any other combination of “seminar,” “event,” “digital,” “online,” and “web” and whatever else you can think of...
So: it's important to be careful and get creative. But that applies to many other things at the moment, and we're really enjoying it :)
Update, July 10, 2020: Statement from the trademark owner
The owner of the trademark with the ® symbol has published a statement, which can be read here: https://www.marconomy.de/abmahnungen-wegen-der-marke-webinar-nicht-rechtens-a-947492/?cmp=nl-407&uuid=E06461C0-F630-49B4-BC9A2E63789EA82A (Link in German)
The warnings were not sent by him, and he does not consider the use of the term for online seminars to be a trademark infringement. The trademark is “a quality designation for online seminars and other services and has been used for many years to identify events, online seminars, and other projects.” The trademark designation is “... in no way synonymous with the term ‘webinar’ or other variations of the term. ...” In commerce, the difference between the trademark and the term ‘webinar’ can be recognized by the trademark indication through the addition of the “®” symbol.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that the definition of the trademark space is quite general and could therefore, in principle, also apply to any event that has been offered by others under this term in the past. The trademark owner promises to take action against potential infringers with a possibly criminal background. Will it be helpful that its registered office is in Kuala Lumpur, at least at the time of writing its statement?
Caution is advised. Using other terms will at least do no harm, and the German language is widely used for its diversity and richness.
