# Use of "The Straight Dope" in a TV commercial **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 14, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-straight-dope-in-a-tv-commercial/387963 "2007-01-14T18:35:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-straight-dope-in-a-tv-commercial/387963/1 "2007-01-14T18:35:02Z")
Late last night I was watching Bravo™ network when a commercial came on for _Nation_ magazine. Several times in the text they used the phrase “The Straight Dope.” Are they infringing on the Chicago Reader’s registered trademark? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-straight-dope-in-a-tv-commercial/387963/2 "2007-01-14T18:49:47Z")
IANAL, but probably not. “The straight dope” is considered to be a common phrase, and as such, it enjoys limited protection under trademark law. See [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark). > [@](#): > > A common word, phrase, or other sign can only be removed from the public domain to the extent that a trademark owner is able to maintain exclusive rights over that sign in relation to certain products or services, assuming there are no other trademark objections. If I’m understanding this correctly, it’s basically saying that unless one is using the phrase as the title of another newspaper column or some such thing, it’s not a trademark infringement. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-straight-dope-in-a-tv-commercial/387963/3 "2007-01-15T00:07:16Z")
Like McJob