It is also pointed out that OpenAI was impatient with the delay in ``GPT'' trademarking, and behind the delay was the conceit of success

As the topic of conversational AI 'ChatGPT' spreads, companies applying for trademark registration of services and products with names like ChatGPT such as 'ThreatGPT', 'MedicalGPT', 'DateGPT' and 'DirtyGPT' appeared like bamboo shoots after the rain. doing. It was reported that OpenAI, which had a sense of crisis in these movements, is rushing to register the trademark of the word 'GPT'.

'GPT' may be trademarked soon if OpenAI has its way | TechCrunch

According to TechCrunch, an IT news site, OpenAI has applied for the trademark 'GPT', which stands for 'Generative Pre-trained Transformer', in December 2022. . Furthermore, as services that piggyback on ChatGPT are appearing one after another, OpenAI has filed a petition with the Patent and Trademark Office to expedite the examination process on the grounds that ``countless infringements and counterfeit apps are beginning to emerge.'' but it was rejected.

The Patent and Trademark Office promptly rejected the application for trademark registration of 'GPT' because 'OpenAI failed to pay related costs and submit appropriate evidence documents to support the legitimacy of special measures.'

``Given the situation OpenAI is in, it may take another five months to make a decision,'' said Jefferson Shah, a partner in the intellectual property group at the law firm Carr & Ferrell. . Moreover, even if the examination takes half a year, there is no guarantee that the application for trademark registration will pass.

One reason for this is that the 'T' in 'GPT' stands for 'Transformer,' which comes from the neural network architecture that has become widely used since Google researchers first published it in 2017. The point that we are doing is raised.

Google's 'Transformer' that realizes higher quality translation surpasses RNN and CNN - GIGAZINE

That said, just because it originates from a commonly used descriptive word doesn't mean it can't be a trademark. For example, IBM is derived from the rather descriptive phrase 'International Business Machines', but 'IBM' as an abbreviation has established itself as a brand that cannot be pushed or pushed. increase.

We also take into account that OpenAI has been using the term 'GPT' for four and a half years since October 2018, when it released its first 'generatable pretrained transformer model', namely 'GPT-1'. Mr Shah said.

The challenge here is that ChatGPT suddenly became famous in 2022. OpenAI used to be a well-known organization among AI researchers. The release of ChatGPT in May caused an overnight sensation. Therefore, whether or not the claim that ``the word GPT has been used for many years and has gradually built a brand in the market'' will pass is a delicate matter from Mr. Shah's point of view.

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Moreover, it is not hard to imagine that even after passing the examination of the Patent and Trademark Office, there will be market participants who wait for the trademark registration of 'GPT' during the subsequent opposition period. In this case, the opponent is expected to argue that ``OpenAI's ``GPT'' is not a unique word, and the general public recognizes it as a word about generative AI in a broad sense.''

If these opinions conflict with OpenAI's claims, we will randomly select American citizens and conduct awareness surveys, and investigate how 'GPT' has been used, from public documents to late-night talk shows. It will take time to settle because it is necessary. Given this, the question arises: Why didn't OpenAI trademark 'GPT' sooner? Regarding this, Mr. Shah said, ``OpenAI may have been careless about its own success.''

On the other hand, Mr. Shah believes that it is likely that it will eventually succeed in trademark registration, although it will take time. Mr. Shah said, ``GPT is different from random three letters. I will answer,' he said.