What is a Trademark?
A trademark is a word, slogan, symbol, or design used to distinguish the products or services of one person or company from those of others. Trademark law generally aims to protect consumers from confusion about who provides, endorses, or is affiliated with a particular product or service. To prevent consumer confusion, a trademark owner can prohibit others from using their mark or similar, confusingly similar marks.
To respect the trademark rights of others and avoid confusing consumers, do not use other people's trademarks in a way that suggests affiliation, association, sponsorship, or endorsement by or with the trademark owner, unless you have their permission. Likewise, do not use other people's trademarks in a way that suggests your content was created by the trademark owner or represents their views or opinions.
Using a trademark without the owner's permission on the character.ai platform in a manner that may confuse or mislead others about your identity, brand, or business affiliation may constitute trademark infringement and, consequently, violate our trademark policy.
Reporting Trademark Violations
Before filing a report, keep in mind that not every use of your trademark in a username or other character context constitutes trademark infringement. Using the same word used in a different context, or for something unrelated to the product or service for which the trademark was granted usually does not constitute trademark infringement.
If you believe a username or other material infringes your trademark rights, please contact the account owner to resolve the issue directly with them. Please understand that we conduct limited investigations of reasonable complaints and only take action in clear cases of infringement.
If you would like to report a trademark violation, please submit a ticket here and provide the requested information under "Trademark Takedown Request". You can also send an email to support@character.ai that includes the following information, which we may share with the impacted account holder:
Your Information
- Your contact information (name, company name, email address, physical address, phone number)
- If you are the trademark owner or an authorized representative acting on behalf of the trademark owner (we only investigate reports from owners or authorized representatives)
- The trademark that you claim has been infringed
- The trademark registration number or application number (if applicable)
- Where is the trademark registered (e.g., USPTO)
- Where do you use the trademark?
About the Infringement
- The location of the infringing activity on character.ai (please provide a valid URL link to the allegedly infringing content) and describe why it is an infringement.
- Statements of Authority and Accuracy:
- Good Faith Belief: I have a good faith belief that the use of the trademark(s) described above is not authorized by the trademark owner, its agent, or the law.
- Accuracy & Authorization: I represent that the information in this notification is true and correct and that I am authorized to act on behalf of the trademark owner. I acknowledge that I am submitting this request under penalty of perjury.
- Consent to Data Sharing: I agree that character.ai may forward this complaint, including my contact information (name, company name, email address, physical address, phone number), to the affected user.
Upon receiving a report, we will do the following:
- Confirm that the report is complete or request additional information if it is not.
- Determine if there is a violation of this trademark policy.
- If we take action based on a report, we will provide the report to the affected account holder so they can respond to the claim.
- In certain cases, we may also offer the affected account holder the opportunity to comply with our policies.
Please note that character.ai will make or implement reasonable determinations at its sole discretion regarding the use of trademarks on our platform, however, character.ai will not act as an arbitrator in disputes between third parties. If character.ai refuses to take action based on a report, the trademark owner must resolve the dispute directly with the affected account holder. character.ai may, at its sole discretion, share a copy of trademark reports with the affected account holder.
Trademark Policy Does NOT Cover The Following:
- Making a simple reference to someone else's trademark (e.g., "I love playing Uno!")
- Simply register a username that is also a trademark.
- Using a trademark in a way that is unrelated to the product or service for which the trademark was granted. For example, a trademark for plumbing services probably won't apply to gaming activities.
- Using someone else's trademark to refer to your products or services.
- Using someone else's trademark in a way that clearly distinguishes the character owner from the trademark owner.
- Create parody characters, comments, and scenarios, provided that the characters meet the following requirements:
- The character or scenario includes a description that clearly states that the character and/or the scenario is not affiliated with the trademark (e.g., by using words such as "parody," "fan," "comment," "subscribers of," etc.);
- The character or scenario name is not the exact trademark without any other distinctive words such as "fan", "subscriber", "comment" or "players".