OpenAI’s Effort to Trademark GPT Crushed by Feds [Video]

Ever since OpenAI debuted its ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022, effectively piquing the world’s interest in the technology and setting off an AI arms race, the company has been trying to prevent other businesses from using the acronym “GPT.” This month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said the answer was “no” (again).

In a final decision issued last week, which largely flew under the radar, the USPTO said it was denying OpenAI’s petition to register a trademark for “GPT” because the acronym was “merely descriptive” and only detailed a feature or characteristic of the company’s product. “GPT” is short for “generative pre-trained transformer,” a set of neural network models that can create human-like text and images.

OpenAI had been pushing back against the federal agency’s assertion that “GPT” is descriptive for months, arguing in November that the average consumer was unlikely to know that “GPT” was an acronym for “generative pre-trained transformer.”

“This wording is a …