Online seminars or webinars are booming! However, there have been questions about the term webinar lately. Am I even allowed to call my digital offering that, or am I at risk of a warning? We researched for you:
Disclaimer: We from the blink.it editorial team are unfortunately not lawyers, so the following information is provided without guarantee! Of course, we have researched to the best of our knowledge and compared our sources with various experts.
The term “webinar” has indeed been a protected trademark since 2003. This patent is critically considered today because it is a commonly used generic term. However, at the time of the patent application, the term and the product behind it were not as widespread as they are today.
The patent for the term “webinar” is still legally valid today. However, according to a report by Heise from 09.07.2020, five applications for cancellation of the trademark have already been filed. The applications are primarily justified by the fact that “the designation ‘webinar’ has now become a commonly used generic term.”
If you want to read a detailed report on the subject, we recommend the article on the blog of the law firm Rieck & Partner: “Webinar as a Trademark Protected Term”
What does this mean for you as a “webinar” provider?
Theoretically, due to the legal situation described above, there is a risk of being warned. According to legal experts, there have been rumors about warnings; however, these have not yet been officially confirmed. Practically, a warning is rather unlikely, at least a successful one – so said lawyer Dr. Thomas Schwenke on Facebook.
Further insights are provided by the current statement of the Digital University of NRW:
The term is registered in the trademark register of the DPMA.
The term has not been used by the owner in the sense of trademark law.
The trademark is threatened with expiration, as the term is firmly established in common language as a description for an online seminar.
“Digital meeting,” “online meeting,” “online seminar” are legally unproblematic terms.
Whether you want to continue calling your online offering a webinar or not, you ultimately have to decide for yourself. There remains a residual risk of a warning, which we currently estimate to be rather low based on the mentioned expert opinions. It is likely that there will only be a clear answer to the “webinar dispute” when warnings are confirmed or actual court decisions are made.
We will definitely continue to follow the topic and keep you updated.
Will you continue to use the term “webinar” in the future? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments!
Although we are not legal experts, we can give you content-related and didactic tips for designing online seminars. If you are interested in such topics, feel free to check out our free collection of guides, checklists, and other learning materials!
