FAA Callsign Issues

[LXApilot]

Hello everyone: I figured this is the best place to address this topic as you may have had experience establishing a radio-telephone callsign with the FAA and ICAO in the past.

We have another company using a very similar callsign to ours and we have trademarked our company name, etc in hopes of sending them a cease-and-desist.

I'd like to also address this with the ICAO and FAA. Does anyone have any experience with radio telephony callsigns and the contact at ICAO or FAA to address issues regarding this topic?

Thanks so much for all of your help.
- LXApilot

 

[TMMT]

We have another company using a very similar callsign to ours and we have trademarked our company name, etc in hopes of sending them a cease-and-desist.

Good luck with that...

 

[LXApilot]

TMMT,
Thanks for your note.
Any idea who I may want to contact?
I started with the ICAO but they seem slow moving and confused.
Thanks,
Colin

 

[TigerDriver]

tried to get a callsign a few years back, ICAO said the FAA had to approve it, FAA says ICAO has to approve it....its a crapshoot really...

 

[CaptSeth]

The call sign goes through an approval process and they check for things like conflicting sounding call signs. Your trademark or other commercial issues have no bearing on the jurisdiction, so you will have no luck with that. You can make an inquiry regarding what you think may be a potential conflict, but in all likelihood you will be given the option of changing YOUR callsign, which I believe won't be desirable in your case.

The FAA office that handles this is in Atlanta, if you need the nice lady's contact info let me know.

 

[TMMT]

TMMT,
Thanks for your note.
Any idea who I may want to contact?
I started with the ICAO but they seem slow moving and confused.
Thanks,
Colin

IIRC the Aeronautical Information Management Office are the ones who actually assign ICAO call signs.

Advisory Circular 120-26 has some information...

I honestly think you're gonna have to do better than just claiming trademark infringement to get a call sign changed...

If you have not of gone on the record legally with the cease and desist letter yet, you might try filing an ASRS regarding callsign similarities and radio confusion... but that could result in them changing your call sign, not theirs...

 

[LXApilot]

How about bringing it up that the other company operates very infrequently while our company operates dozens of flights per day? Sort of a "use it or lose it" argument?

 

[TMMT]

How about bringing it up that the other company operates very infrequently while our company operates dozens of flights per day? Sort of a "use it or lose it" argument?

Unless you have a legal department the size of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association... I think you're pretty much tilting at windmills here.

 

[ksu_aviator]

Similar sounding isn't enough, even in trademark law.

 

[flyboyike]

Similar sounding isn't enough, even in trademark law.

Yeah, just ask Cleo McDowell.